Review: SHRINEBUILDER

For some reason I was not particularly hyped about getting this album, despite the pedigree. I am not a Wino sycophant and although I love Vitus, 'Lunar Womb' is the only album by The Obsessed that I own and it's a bit too bluesy for me. I don't have the Wino solo album either although one song that I heard was pretty cool. Also I am getting a bit fed up of hearing Scott Kelly's vocals this year. He crops up on 'Crack the Skye' and 'Axe To Fall' and while his gravelly croak always lends some leaden gravitas, it's almost too distinctive and detracts from the originality of the works by the original artists. Anyway this album is much what you would expect, and that's no bad thing. It essentially sounds like later Neurosis with some of the shimmer of OM and some Wino-esque bluesy solos laid in. On first spins the tracks seem quite samey but there's some killer riffs, especially on second song 'Pyramid On The Moon'. The 39 minute run time passes pretty quickly and makes it feel more like an EP, despite the lumbering nature of the tunes (and I mean that in a good way). Considering the epic sprawl of the contributing artists, the songs sound somewhat clipped and would have benefitted from some extra meat on the bones. An extra tune or some of expansion of the riffs wouldn't have gone amiss. Anyway, calling this album not-less-than-the-sum-of-it's parts is probably a tad pejorative. It ticks all the boxes and there is some stellar tuneage but it lacks surprises or any true wow factor that might have made it a stone-cold classic for me.

Filling In The Gaps: BLOOD TSUNAMI

OK if I am checking out a band I have never heard before I tend to get all of their albums in one go or at least very close together. That way I can try and appraise their collected works. If I am checking out a band with 15 albums I'm not going to do that of course but with 2-3 albums, that is the aim. I'll post my thoughts on here. Filling In The Gaps is a shitty name for this exercise, I'll change it as and when I think of something better.

I remember reading positive reviews in Terrorizer a while back for Blood Tsunami and hey, they've got Faust from Emperor drumming. The dude on the back has a Coroner shirt on – respect. Cool artwork. The debut album is called ‘Thrash Metal’. Subtle.



Let's get it over with, 'Thrash Metal' is a stupid title, even though I doubt they mean to suggest that this is the defining release of the genre. On first spin the opener kicks in with a belting riff. Some epic Swedish influences at work but managing to avoid the clichés. Not too technical and no breakdowns which is good. Some ace guitar work that manages to sound pleasantly familiar and yet holds the attention. Reminds me a bit of Skeletonwitch but it’s less of a grab-bag of black/death influences and has its feet firmly rooted in the thrash camp. The vocals are more consistent too, I don’t really like it when the vocalists in death/thrash bands swing from death grunts to singing to black metal screaming, often all in the space of one song. It smacks of too much of fence sitting. This dude has more of a black/thrash style of singing, maybe somewhat reminiscent of Tom Angelripper or the Aura Noir dude. A competent debut and a good sign of things to come.



On to the second album, ‘Grand Feast For Vultures' Not much has changed musically but this album sounds a lot more confident and includes some elements which inject a good dose of originality into proceedings. What we do have that marks Blood Tsunami out is long songs. The penultimate track ‘Horsehead Nebula’ clocks in at 12 minutes and is largely instrumental. The final track is 10 minutes as well but neither track is boring, managing to hold the attention throughout. Overall not original but still a cracking release. I am bored with so-called ‘modern thrash’ but this is so competently played by guys who know their stuff so well that you can’t help but be smile and bang along to it.

So two albums of ripping thrash, more in the European style than the US by far and with a touch of death in the blast. Well worth picking up, I would start with the second album as it's more confident and polished than the debut.