Earthen Grave

Earthen Grave
Rachel Barton Pine on electric violin
Background information
Origin	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Genres	thrash/doom metal
Years active	2008–2014
Website	EarthenGrave.Com
Past members	Mark Weiner Rachel Barton Pine Tony Spillman Jason Muxlow Ron Holzner Scott Davidson Chris Wozniak

Earthen Grave was an American thrash/doom metal band from Chicago, Illinois, formed in 2008, featuring violin virtuoso Rachel Barton Pine.

Earthen Grave was founded late in 2008, as Jason Muxlow was working on a new album for The Living Fields, listening to a lot of Saint Vitus (an '80s doom metal band) and writing down various doom metal guitar riffs. Looking for who might be able to play this style of music with him, Muxlow reached out to drummer Scott Davidson, General Manager of Chicago's WPJX 'Rebel Radio' heavy metal radio station, and "things just snowballed.”

They then enlisted bassist Ron Holzner, formerly of Trouble, to help with this new project. Muxlow says of the first jam as a trio, “The first rehearsal was tough, but after we sorted out some issues with downtuning, things really jelled.”

The trio put out a classified ad on craigslist.org looking for a vocalist, and Mark Weiner responded the very next day.

Davidson, who had known violin virtuoso Rachel Barton Pine for many years through the Chicago metal scene, invited her to a rehearsal. Until this point in her career, Barton Pine had played only on a traditional acoustic violin, but participated in the band rehearsal using her new amplified six-string "Viper", an extended-range instrument related to the electric violin invented by Mark Wood. The band invited Barton Pine to join them shortly thereafter.

Tony Spillman was the final member to join Earthen Grave, having previously worked with such bands as Ministry, Prong, and Trouble.