Band:	Chelsea Grin
Album:	Suffer In Heaven
Style:	Deathcore
Release date:	March 17, 2023
A review by:	omne metallum

01. Leave With Us
02. Orc March [feat. Dustin Mitchell]
03. Fathomless Maw
04. Soul Slave
05. The Mind Of God
06. Yhorm The Giant
07. Sing To The Grave
08. The Path Of Suffering

The masses of humanity have always had to suffer.

Following up on last year's Suffer In Hell, part two is here with the release of Suffer In Hell 2: Electric Boogaloo... wait no, I mean Suffer In Heaven. Deciding to take the Pokémon route of releasing two slightly different variations of the same game, Suffer In Pikachu Yellow sees Chelsea Grin release the companion piece after whetting our appetites last year. For a record with a runtime of an EP, the band do well to pack enough personality and power into such a short offering.

Suffer In Heaven, Hugging Puppies And Kittens While Being Allergic is the more experimental of the pair, seeing the band sprinkle in the odd additional element that enhances the quality of the tracks within. "Soul Slave" is one of the better songs found here, thanks to the decision to throw in some subtle electronics behind the usual, high-quality deathcore pummelling. Chelsea Grin find the perfect median between their core sound and experimentation throughout much of the album.

That isn't to say the band stray from their usual sound; those who play Dark Souls will recognise "Yhorm The Giant", while those who listen to Chelsea Grin will recognise the band's sound. After hearing "Leave With Us", I thought the album was going to just be a continuation. Barber does a solid job bridging the gap between suffering with foot cramps, I mean, Suffer In Hell and Suffer In Heaven. Rutishauser's guitar work on tracks like "The Mind Of God" goes straight into your dopamine receptors, with "Sing To The Grave" not following far behind, with the latter seeing Viveros' drums being an oddly addictive element.

Perhaps a sign of how new music be released by bands in the future, I can understand the business merits of effectively splitting an album into two pieces to be released a few months apart, but I can't say as a listener that it is a good idea. It feels like the equivalent of a restaurant splitting up your main course into two servings that arrive at different times, rather than offering you two separate courses. Sure, I liked the food, but it wasn't filling because it was broken into two bits; I'd much prefer getting my fill in one go and being served up something different for the next course.

Chelsea Grin certainly outdo themselves here, creating what I think is their strongest release to date. While the brevity of the album does mean that it doesn't outstay its welcome or risk diluting its impact, it could easily have been one whole record without detracting from its quality.