Somewhat of an underground Metal supergroup, Shrinebuilder have released their first self titled record that is heavy, brooding and dankly dark. Dubbed as the Justice League of heaviness, Wino on guitar from Saint Vitus & The Obsessed, Scott Kelly on guitar from Neurosis, Dale Crover on drums from the Melvins and Al Cisneros on bass from Om and Sleep, these guys form a heaviness in the realm of Doom Psych Stoner Metal. Think of a heavier Kyuss, Clutch or Type O Negative meets early Sabbath.
Recorded in just three days, Shrinebuilder were able to put down 5 longer length tracks clocking in at over 5 minutes each with pure dirty power riffing. All four members provide vocals and add a sonic blast to the already unanticipated sludge power that was Shrinebuilder has created. CD lead track, "Solar Benediction" at 8 minutes and 45 seconds provides a big slab of Psychedelic Metal for you to sink your teeth into. "Pyramid of the Moon" slows it down a bit and grows into another epic song at over 7 minutes long. Heavy, grinding stuff for sure. The kind of record that you were always told to play loud! This is such a departure for the members that make up Shrinebuilder (cool name, btw), with the much slower and plodding riffs creating an ever repeating landscape. This is very thought invoking stuff, as opposed to the usual bombastic Metal that I'm sure that you thought was to be contained herein. On the contrary, what you get are 5 quite "jam band" type of tunes that sound very much from a different era in time.
This debut, while being a good record, does tend to drag on in spots with songs being 6, 7 and 8 minutes long. But it does have a killer CD cover! The members of Shrinebuilder have promised this to be an on going band and not just a one off thing, but will tell on that, so in the meantime if you are a fan of any of the member's several bands, belly up to the bar and check this out. While it WILL be a bit of a departure from the bands the members of Shrinebuilder are from, this debut CD is a good and interesting one. If you like Doom Stoner Metal, you will enjoy this record.
Track Listing
1. Solar Benediction
2. Pyramid of the Moon
3. Blind For All To See
4. The Architect
5. Science of Anger
Printer Friendly Page
Send to a Friend
