Chelsea Grin - My Damnation

I’ve known about Chelsea Grin since they released their self-titled EP in 2008. Although now it somewhat sickens me to listen to it, it still holds an important place in my collection and (for some people) in deathcore history. When they came out with their debut full-length, I loved most of the songs on the record, although the screams kind of bothered me. When I was listening to his screams, I knew that he was doing them the wrong way and would eventually get fucked over (depending on how often he was screaming and how bad) just like Mitch Lucker, Oliver Sykes, and tons of other screamers out there (the number is surprising).

It turned out that my predictions were right. After a year of constant touring and not taking care of his throat or his voice, the vocalist fucked himself over. And instead of getting a new vocalist or just growling, he went right on ahead and ruined the whole band with his awful “screams”. This album gives the deathcore genre a bad name. Not only do the screams ruin everything altogether, the entire album feels, rushed, unpracticed, rough, and sounds like the band quickly and carelessly slapped together some generic deathcore riffs, some breakdowns, some atmospheric Whitechapel-style lines, did some production work, and called it good.

The only reason this album had any success at all was because they didn’t release any teasers that had screaming. Also, the fact that Phil from Whitechapel is featured on one of the tracks acted as a big attraction for many. But once everyone received their pre-orders or bought it at the local record shop and listened to it, a wave of deep regret and anger seemed to wash over the metalhead population. This is why I don’t pre-order things unless I’m given a good, solid preview of what the album is going to sound like. The last album I pre-ordered was All Shall Perish’s This is Where it Ends…..well, I did pre-order the new Periphery album that’s coming out next month, so I guess that counts. ANYWAY, the pre-release hype was huge, but once people realized what they were listening to, record sales took a vertical drop.

I still cannot get over the screams. It sounds like this guy is getting an amputation in the middle of a battlefield!! I cannot come up with something I’ve heard that sounds as disturbing and sickening as this. Trust me DO NOT BUY THIS ALBUM!! I would give this piece of shit a 2/20, the extra point being for some catchy breakdowns and the parts of the song featuring Phil Bozeman from Whitechapel.