Chelsea Grin

Salt Lake City, Utah outfit Chelsea Grin derive their moniker from a notorious method of facial mutilation and channel that violence into a pummeling strain of deathcore built around crushing breakdowns. Drawing from Suicide Silence, Slayer, Whitechapel, and A Perfect Circle, the group fused death metal with post-hardcore on their 2010 debut Desolation of Eden. Later releases—Ashes to Ashes (2014), Eternal Nightmare (2018), Suffer in Hell (2022), and Suffer in Heaven (2023)—folded in djent, doom, black, symphonic, and progressive metal textures, yet the band has never wavered from its deathcore identity since forming in 2007.

Initially a quintet featuring vocalist Alex Koehler, guitarists Michael Stafford and Chris Kilbourn, bassist Austin Marticorena, and drummer Andrew Carlston, the band wasted little time issuing a self-titled EP via Statik Factory in 2008 and immediately began touring. Personnel shifts hit in 2009 when Marticorena departed for personal reasons and Kilbourn exited to launch Matchless Records. Chelsea Grin filled those vacancies with bassist David Flinn and guitarist Jaek Harmond, then expanded their attack further by recruiting a third guitarist, Dan Jones, just before inking a deal with Artery Recordings and tracking their first full-length, Desolation of Eden, which arrived in 2010.

The group maintained a relentless touring schedule for the remainder of that year until Koehler suffered a broken jaw and the fall dates had to be scrapped. Early in 2011 the band entered the studio with producer Chris “Zeuss” Harris—known for his work with Hatebreed and The Red Chord—to cut the follow-up My Damnation, released later the same year. A headlining run ensued, followed by European support dates alongside Emmure in 2013. Late that year recording began on third album Ashes to Ashes, co-produced by the band and Volumes guitarist Diego Farias; the record landed in July 2014 and became Chelsea Grin’s first to reach the Top 40, peaking at number 27. That summer the band also joined the Warped Tour. Their fourth studio effort, Self Inflicted, surfaced in 2016 and stood as their most ferocious statement to date. It marked the final album for both Koehler and guitarist Jacob Harmond, who exited in early 2018. In June of that year the remaining members—now operating as a quartet—unveiled Eternal Nightmare, fronted by ex-Lorna Shore vocalist Tom Barber. Still a four-piece, the band returned to its deathcore roots with the uncompromising Suffer in Hell in 2022 and its companion piece Suffer in Heaven the following year.