Elizabeth by Skullgrinder

Hailing from Lexington, TN, Skullgrinder was the unholy pairing of Zach Moonshine (Brutal Death Fuck) and Benjamin Holny, unleashing raw, primitive metal chaos in the early 2000s. Elizabeth is a 2002–2004 time capsule of demos, live tracks, and twisted rituals, capturing a wild, uncompromising underground sound.

Influenced by ’80s heavy metal icons like Ozzy Osbourne and W.A.S.P., and ’90s death metal like Deicide, Skullgrinder went against the grain of 2000s trends. The only nod to modernity was crude drum machines, giving an almost industrial edge to an otherwise raw, ritualistic attack.

Zach and Benjamin trade vocals and guitars—sometimes harmonizing, sometimes tearing into each other in back-and-forth chaos. Lyrically, the album dives into necrophilia, Necronomicon incantations, and other dark, twisted themes, with the lone exception of Compromised, a self-reflective ballad about betrayal. The album’s story revolves around a tale of a skull they named Elizabeth: they scraped out its dried brains, smoked them with weed, and cursed themselves to be haunted by its spirit.

Tracks like Malevolent Pestilence, Elizabeth (Dance With The Dead), and Head at the Foot of Your Bed summon an eerie, macabre atmosphere—but the album closes with Don't Come Knockin', a death-metal-acoustic mashup with a tongue-in-cheek Tom Petty vibe, hilariously insane yet strangely perfect.

This edition also includes bonus live recordings: the original full-band version of Alcohol, recorded at Donald R. Geboo’s house, and Zach’s solo cemetery sessions, Kill the Bastard and She Never Loved Me, captured in the haunting stillness of Palestine Cemetery.

Elizabeth is a dark, raw, and unapologetically weird artifact from a lost time in Tennessee’s underground metal scene—a primitive, ritualistic snapshot that still haunts.

From Lexington, TN, Skullgrinder (Zach Moonshine & Benjamin Holny) spewed raw, primitive chaos in the early 2000s. Elizabeth is a cursed-skull time capsule of demos, live tracks, necro rituals, and the hilariously wrong acoustic closer Don’t Come Knockin’. Ferociously ridiculous, gloriously horrible, and somehow even worse than Brutal Death Fuck. 💀