This Is Hell

by Stewart Mason
Part of a decades-long line of hardcore acts from Long Island, NY, This Is Hell formed in 2002 following the breakup of two local favorites. Singer Travis Reilly had previously fronted Scraps and Heart Attacks, while guitarist Joe Osolin, bassist Jeff Tiu, and drummer Dan Bourke had been three quarters of the Backup Plan. The group completed its original lineup with second guitarist Rick Jimenez, a veteran of several Long Island bands, and somewhat incongruously took their name from an Elvis Costello song. This Is Hell's self-released demo was popular enough to be reissued in 2004 as a 7" EP on the Run for Cover label. The six-track This Is Hell EP followed in 2005. As the Backup Plan returned to active duty, Tiu and Osolin left This Is Hell to concentrate on their primary project; Tiu was replaced by bassist Johnny Moore, who also plays with Jimenez in Sentence, and Osolin by Reilly's former Scraps and Heart Attacks bandmate Chris Reynolds. Concurrent with these changes, This Is Hell's debut full-length, Sundowning, was released by Trustkill Records in the spring of 2006.