Review Summary: A nice change in direction, Short but sweet.
Chelsea Grin is a band I've only discovered recently but I'm already digging. I've already listened to their Self-Titled EP and both of their full lengths and thoroughly enjoyed them. But one thing that I noticed was that they didn't change much musically. Both records sounded alike each other with only slight differences in their style. But I'm happy to say that their newest release Evolve is Chelsea Grin's big change as a band and it does not disappoint.
First off the guitar work is much more melodic thanks to their new guitarist Jason Richardson (Formerly of Born Of Osiris) and he is probably the best thing to happen to this band. In fact the guitar work sounds a lot like Born Of Osiris which is a very good thing since BOO is quite possibly one of the best Deathcore bands out there. It definitely makes the release more fun to listen to than their past releases.
Alex Koehler's vocals haven't changed too much since My Damnation but they're still pretty damn good. His screams sound very dark, almost like someone being tortured which is very fitting considering that this is a Deathcore band and the subject matters on the album are very dark. His clean vocals on the other hand do need some work, sounding quite bland but not bad enough to ruin any of the songs.
There isn't a lot of bad things I can really say about Evolve. Really the only bad thing I can say is that it feels too short being only five tracks long. It really gets you into the mood but then when the last track "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is over it makes you say "wait... that's it?" It really makes you wish that it was a full length.
Overall though Chelsea Grin's fourth studio release is a very good effort and without a doubt the band's best release to date. And my personal favorite release of the year so far.
