Demonic Manifestation Grimshrine Review
Demonic Manifestation
Grimshrine
Personal Records
2026
The last decade and a half or so has seen underground independent extreme metal labels pop up all over the world. The crazier thing is that nearly all of them release absolutely quality music and support killer bands. Chances are, if you're into thrash, black, sludge, death, or doom, you are completely familiar with some of them. Here's just a handful that I bet permeates your CD, cassette, or vinyl collections: Iron Fortress, Transcending Obscurity, Transylvanian Recordings, Redefining Darkness, 20 Buck Spin, Rotted Life, Everlasting Spew, Me Saco Un Ojo? Yeah, those. All of them are champions for excellent fringe bands that the bigger fellas don't touch. Add Santiago de Queretaro, Mexico's Personal Records to your need-to-know list as well, based simply on the strength of fellow countrymen Demonic Manifestation's new nine-song full-length (their third overall), Grimshrine.
The bestial power trio (Victor Mercado — vocals / rhythm guitar, Enrique Martínez — guitar / lead guitar / bass, Felipe González — drums) got their start in 2012 via being in parallel bands and a desire to pen some tunes enveloping the spirit of the '90s underground death metal bands they loved, with an emphasis on the now classic and revered Swedish death metal of the era. Those savvy to my musings know what I mean. Thrashy, grimy, low-tuned HM-2 buzzsaw guitars, punk and hardcore-infused drumming heavy on double bass, lean yet slightly dirty subsonic bass, and vocals that teeter on the edge of howls, shouts, and guttural growls. There are A LOT of bands perpetrating this recipe, but rest assured, Demonic Manifestation are adding to the tried-and-true recipe by bringing a more intense grindcore feel to some of these tunes ("Spheres of Death"), just less chaotic and noisy, with more than a few crust/hardcore leanings.
Grimshrine isn't all about going for the throat, though. The dark, atmospheric clean guitars that lead into a chugged mid-tempo groove followed by a mournful melodic lead section on "Host" make sure of that. They follow that up with a Discharge by way of Entombed romp in "Terror Cosmic Gates." I'm skipping around here, but the best way to experience an album, I feel, is to start in the middle, as that's usually where the filler is. That is not the case here. Backtracking a bit, opener "Cult of Dominion" is a lurching palm-muted intro, writhing blasts, minor-keyed riffs, trem picks, and reverb-drenched vocal bellows/growls. "Ninth Flame Oath" is straight-to-the-point blast-beat-driven insanity that will peel paint from your walls. "Kuru: The Laughing Death March" is also a speedster, but more traditionally DM with melodic Desultoryesque melodious guitar lines and a thrashing verse replete with a wah solo. "Phantasma" is propelled forward by another punishing mid-paced groove with doomy riffs, creepy minor guitar runs, and a menacing aura due to the deeper, throaty growls here. The final track, "The Evil Lurks," is another punker played by death metal heads that power chords, triplet picks, and plays the forbidden beat to great effect before they go doomy again for a solo break and back to the pure DM beatdown.
These songs are simple, to the point (minus some learned and superbly played lead and twin guitar parts), and not rewriting the Swedeath book of old by any means. If you're looking for technical and avant-garde, forget about it. Demonic Manifestation have come here to kick your ass back to 1992. Their machine is powered by ferocious death, grind, and funereal sonics that are intent on aurally mauling your mind. As their press states ever so matter-of-factly, "Why reinvent the wheel, when you can simply CRUSH it?"
Grimshrine is a faithful rendering of barbaric proportions that will make you feel the unease, confusion, and elation of hearing anything from Stockholm and Sunlight Studios all over again….
RIYL- Entombed, Dismember, Grave, Unleashed, Pestilence, Gorefest, Crematory, Desultory
~TB