This Is Hell

Emerging from Long Island, NY's longstanding hardcore scene, This Is Hell came together in 2002 after two area bands dissolved. Frontman Travis Reilly had led Scraps and Heart Attacks, while Joe Osolin on guitar, Jeff Tiu on bass, and Dan Bourke behind the drums had formed three-quarters of the Backup Plan. Second guitarist Rick Jimenez, already experienced in multiple Long Island groups, rounded out the initial roster, which took its name from an Elvis Costello track in a surprising choice. The band's self-released demo gained enough traction for Run for Cover to issue it as a 7" EP in 2004. A six-track This Is Hell EP arrived the next year. When the Backup Plan resumed activity, Tiu and Osolin departed to focus on that group; bassist Johnny Moore, already collaborating with Jimenez in Sentence, stepped in for Tiu, and Chris Reynolds, Reilly's former bandmate from Scraps and Heart Attacks, took Osolin's spot. Amid these shifts, Trustkill Records put out the debut full-length Sundowning in spring 2006.