So, Bring On Mixed Reviews

Chelsea Grin – Desolation Of Eden – Review

Release Date: February 16th, 2010
Record Label: Razor & Tie Records
Genre: Death Metal

While the cover art to Chelsea Grin‘s first EP left little to the imagination and featured a grinning corpse will a smile cut from ear to ear (aka a Glasgow smile), it was surprising to me their debut full-length “Desolation Of Eden” sported a simple, yet jagged typeset, which seems plain for them. Of course we can’t all have the consistent cover art eccentricity of Cattle Decapitation, with human heads being pooped out of cow rectums, but a guy can dream can’t he? Of course that does mean Chelsea Grin has loosened the tight and brash vice the band has held on the death metal genre since forming several years ago, as their latest release is still earth-euruptingly brutal.

I was first impressed by this Utah sextuplet’s DIY attitude, in touring the western United States several times over in a stinky van and equally stinky venues, as they ushered in new fans; but doing so while solidifying their ravaging and dredging death metal, was something to truly appreciate. Not as blindly fast paced as some in the genre, Chelsea Grin take a page or three from acts like Salt The Wound and Suicide Silence, with their slow and heavy riffage, deafening double bass, and slashing vocals that ranges from growling throat muffles to shrieking halcyon screams. They even manage to slip in a bit of melodic fretwork in between all of the carnage.

“Desolation Of Eden,” while being a different direction for the band, has kept their music relatively unchanged. They still have stayed true to their roots, which happens to be a very simple formula. Step 1. Lay down a set of jittery breakdown riffs and clashing drums, to provide a ground shattering foundation, as their songs “Cheyne Stokes” and “Cast From Perfection” clearly demonstrate. Step 2. String together brief selections of dueling death metal guitars, adding both melody and harmony; which is best outlined in the tremendous songs “Elysium” and “The Human Condition.” Adding this aspect is most important when dealing with borderline dull death metal, which is a line that Chelsea Grin happens to carefully walk when Step 1 tends to drown out the sounds of Step 2 on  the record.

Step 3. is all about the balance between throat tenderizing growling and the nasally high pitched screams that permeate their apocalyptic lyrics of doom and gloom unmercifully. On this front, Chelsea Grin sort of falls on its face. Their grumbles and screams are, more often than not, indistinguishable from diesel truck motors or squealing wheat threshers. Many bands do this, but most times it is fine because those band’s lyrics are god awful, but Chelsea Grin‘s lyrics are too impressively detailed and morose to be confined to being discovered by reading the albums notes. I was unable to make out more than 10 words in the entire listening; and when grunts can take the place of your words on the whole, you need to clean it up a tad.

I do like parts of “Desolation Of Eden” that reach out from the dredging depths into something more intricate and original and I even get a rush from the bands commanding riffs and dominating drums, but the knife that is their music tends to have a dirty and dull edge, as it slashes around blindly. Call me ignorant, but there are far too many bands doing similar for Chelsea Grin to be loitering on this decomposing style. There are shining examples — now they simply need to continue with those to make an outstanding imprint on us. ~Staff

Score: 3.5/5

Track Listing:
1. Judgement
2. Desolation Of Eden
3. False Sense Of Sanity
4. Sonnet Of The Wretched
5. Cheyne Stokes
6. The Human Condition
7. Elysium
8. Recreant
9. Cast From Perfection
10. Revenant
11. Wasteland