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GRIMOIRE
Unseen Forces EP

Self-released (2022)
Rating: 8.5/10

Here’s another new thrash metal act on the block. Grimoire hails from Brooklyn, New York and Unseen Forces is their debut three-track EP.

I have to say that from the off I love the tone of this monster. The vocals of Jaiden Knight have a strong 80s nostalgia to them and I can’t quite point to who they remind me of, but coupled with the fiery axe work and the organic bass and drum rumbles there is real meat and fire to this effort.

Grimoire emerges from the shadows like some band that would have no doubt featured on a Metal Massacre compilation only to fade away after leaving their black mark.

Opener ‘Pharaohs Curse’ just has a strong devilish streak, circa 1986, as the melodious, darker segments cavort nicely with the passages of speed. Flashes of, say, Hallows Eve streak through my mind, but there’s even a macabre sense of UK band Onslaught circa their stuffy and satanic 1985 Power From Hell platter, but again, maybe it’s the rough vocal approach. Even so, it is great murky metal daubed in an authentic, earthy atmosphere.

‘Frankenstein’ chugs with a sparkling menace to the point that the riffs are so heavy that we are loitering in doom metal territory, billowing rust and casting off black powdery soot just to confirm the stifling blackness this monolith offers.

‘Dawn Of The Apocalypse’ rounds the trio of tracks off and begins with a subtle, yet foreboding intro before clanking like some unheard Metal Church chugger coated in a black, doomy syrup. How the guys build these ominous chunks is to be admired and we never know if that threatening trudge will continue, or, as with ‘Dawn Of The Apocalypse’, we get a sudden gallop. Again, there’s that archaic old Onslaught vibe; dank, gloomy and primal, the vocals almost punky but at any moment could lapse into a deathly growl.

Grimoire is certainly a band I’ll be keeping a watch on because Unseen Forces has stirred so many memories for me; a crawling, snaking yet cleverly constructed heap of doomy nostalgia that any genuine metalhead should be worshipping at the altar of.

Neil Arnold

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