27th June 2021

Review: “Vile Ones” by Grimelord

It seems that Riverside, California is a fertile place when it comes to Deathcore. The home of Suicide Silence is also the home of Grimelord, a quartet who have been in the game since 2019 when they released their self titled debut album. They’re lucky enough to have all the skills they need in house with guitarist Joshua Chavez producing, editing, mixing, and mastering both the that record and “Vile Ones” at Sonisphere Recordings Perris California a year later. The group is rounded out by a rhythm section of drummer Chris Marentez and bassist Zach Elwood with vocalist Blake Kinnamon reminding of Karl Urban’s character in the in the 2011 American Action Horror film “Priest” in the music video for the title track…

…the chilling instrumental “Infernum” has an Hispanic guitar part with some swirling and strange sounds in the background, to continue the film analogy, they sound like the predatory alien creatures in the Vin Diesel film “Pitch Black“. Blast beats light up the first track proper and the EP title track while Kinnamon throws down vocally using multiple voices, from throat splitting shriller parts to a brutal Death Metal dry bark, his blood spitting venom is a demonic possession of split personality. The riffs may not be as dense as they could be but they don’t need to be; the Death Metal guitar tone drives things forward while the percussive battery steals the show. “Slam Shady” sees even more vocal range in the mix with a couple of spoken word moments that are fleeting moments of clarity during an otherwise savage tale of the end of humanity during pummeling rhythms that see jack hammer footwork reach new beats per minute records. It’s nothing but pure evil and slaps hard before the eerie “Dethroned” offers the calm before the storm. A barely audible spoken word over an haunting instrumental, it serves as the introduction to “Gallows Hill“, a track that summons forth demons from hell as Kinnamon and Warren go toe to toe to see who can reach the lowest guttural. As with most of the tracks, lyrically its a play on the War between forces good and evil that sides with the darkness, which is where the murderous tale of “Boy In The Box” takes us. It is not however all full throttle, all out heavy; instead Grimelord deliver haunting sonics that build atmosphere between breakdown sections with the unclean vocals dialed down to harsh whispers. A dream or a nightmare? Did the Devil make him do it or was that just a lie for the Judge? [7.5/10]

Track listing