Live Review: Chelsea Grin w/Signs Of The Swarm, Mugshot and Crown Magnetar at the Engine Rooms in Southampton!

Tonight we’re on the South Coast at The Engine Rooms in Southampton for an American Deathcore invasion as Chelsea Grin bring Signs Of The Swarm, Mugshot and Crown Magnetar to our shores on what has to be the heaviest ticket in town. Forget your work Christmas party because tonight is all about getting your brains splattered across the floor in the best possible way. Mosh pit violence is essential and with members of Obey The Tyrant and Harbinger in the crowd, you know it’s going to get ugly.

Despite their illustrious career to date this is only the second time that Unique Leader Records signings Crown Magnetar [8/10] have been to Europe, the first time being two years ago. As they take to the stage vocalist Dan Tucker cuts the figure of an apex predator, tattooed and muscular wearing a combat vest and baseball cap. His demonic vocals with their bowel clenching lows have long propelled the four piece to devastating new heights and tonight is no different. Bathed in swirling bright white lights the hit the packed Engine Rooms with wave after wave of skull crushing Deathcore, their brutal, down tuned rhythms and artillery shelling percussive bomb blasts in inciting circle pit violence from the first second of “Full Spectrum Hatred” to the very last breath of “Black Lotus“. The atmosphere is oppressive as Tucker stalks the stage on the hunt during a punishing rendition of “Everything Bleeds” before commanding crowd surfing as he spits blood and venom during the vulgar display of power that is “Decapitation Ritual“. By the end the rumbling bass and eight string guitars sound like they register as seismic activity against the backdrop of the thunderous drums, the fierce intensity of the set being seriously impressive.

West Coast California’s Mugshot [8/10] have roots in Metallic Hardcore and bring the incendiary energy, two stepping, bouncing and headbanging their way through their set while slapping the crowd back with stuccato riff breaks and groove laden bass. It’s like they’ve been knocking back the Vodka Red Bulls (other energy drinks are available) on mass and have been left with tourettes as they bounce off the walls to the sound of each sonic abrasion. Pitch harmonics and shrill backing vocals from guitarist Michael Demko add a spice that’s nice even if they’re a little raw. “Egodystoic” and “Die In Fear” are both scorching, high energy neurotron bombs, getting everyone up off the floor from the first to last. As with Crown Magnetar, despite having a venue wide pit throughout their set they want crowd surfers, giving us a countdown of how much time they have left on stage during a blistering final song so we know just how long we’ve got to shake frontman Ringo Waterman by the hand.

Injuries are inevitable with the menacing, sinister and spine shattering calibre of bands on the stage tonight and Pittsburgh quartet Signs Of The Swarm [10/10] are an outfit at the height of their game. The Deathcore aficionados decimate the weak and thin the herd with slab after concrete slab of brutality, cuts like “HELLMUSTFEARME” and “IWONTLETYOUDIE” opening a gateway to hell early on. Witnessing them live is as immersive an experience, as a high quality horror movie with drummer Bobby Crow annihilating the front row as he beats the living daylights out of his kit “DREAMKILLER” utterly devastating tonight. There’s enough jackhammer footwork and gravity blasting on display to make the ground tremble beneath our feet. Vocalist David Simonich is a captivating frontman, commanding a wall of death while wearing a white t-shirt for the entire performance. Doesn’t he know that only serial killers wear white to Deathcore shows? Oh wait… Guitarist Carl Schulz delivers an immaculate solo to break out of his down tuned chugs doe just a minute, his eight string not so much an instrument as an implement of destruction. This is their second tour with tonight’s headliners in the past year so the four piece dedicate a savage rendition of “Sarkazein” to Chelsea Grin before finishing on a high with the skull shattering “Amongst the Low & Empty“.

The support bands have ensured that OG Deathcore brutes Chelsea Grin [10/10] have to bring their A game or risk being a disappointment. Rather than being fast and furious however the band are obviously relaxed, taking it all in their stride and deliver what can only be described as a bone crushing display. They begin their sixty minute set with a lethal dose of American hatred in “Recreant” and don’t look back, getting a wall of death for “Dead Rose” before going back to 2014’s “Ashes to Ashes” album for a blistering rendition of “Playing With Fire“. The difference between tonight’s headliners and the other bands on tonight’s bill are the technical solos from Stephen Rutishauser, who is a master at work. As a band they have been through so many line up changes that bassist David Flinn is the oldest member of the band having joined in 2009 and yet he wasn’t their at their Inception in 2007. None of that matters to tonight however as this line up seeks to claim the crown as the definitive one with drummer Josh “Baby J” Miller the newest recruit. He’s always impressed, particularly in Emmure and Spite so when he joined the ranks in 2024 he was an obvious replacement and an easy win with him and vocalist Tom Barber sharing side project Darko. Barber asks the crowd if they like “My Damnation” and then asks someone on the front row for their favourite line. They choke because let’s face it, who can think of their favourite line at a seconds notice when placed on the spot in front of a capacity audience? The answer is of course “I can feel the agony of the tortured souls tormenting me” and the rendition is rousing before the brutality that is personal favourite “Crewcabanger” which goes down a storm. A Chelsea Grin show isn’t a Chelsea Grin show without that staple. “Hostage” finishes the set in style with David Simonich from Signs Of The Swarm back on stage to help out and you know the bloodstains are going to take a while to wash off the floor after this one.