Shrinebuilder
Heaviest supergroup ever drops its worshipful debut
Two years ago, if you had told your average metal fan that Scott Kelly of Neurosis, Wino from Saint Vitus/the Obsessed, Al Cisneros of Om/Sleep and Dale Crover of the Melvins were recording an album together, you’d probably get socked in the arm and scolded for taking the names of so many metal lords in vain. Now that the band is more than just a metalhead’s wet dream, you can respond to your assailant with “boo-yah!” Assuming that you can de-stick your jaw from the floor after hearing the temples of heavy erected on the group’s self-titled Neurot debut.
Called Shrinebuilder, the saliva-worthy supergroup is easily the most impressive alignment of metal icons since Down. Anticipation was ungodly high since rumors of the group’s formation first surfaced in late ’07. But Kelly had a feeling from the beginning that Shrinebuilder would exceed expectations. “I knew before I was a part of it that it was going to be something great,” he tells Decibel. “There’s a real belief and trust in the visions in this band, you know? There was never any doubt in my mind that what we would do would be exactly what we wanted to do.”
The album took just two and a half days to record in Toshi Kasai’s Hollywood studio, with some guitar overdubs added later by Wino. And despite just one day of full-band rehearsal before the sessions, Wino assures, “Everything went flawlessly. We had all our ideas worked out… we talked about it a little bit, we played through each tune before we did it and then we just went ahead and did it. It’s just kind of magical.”
The majesty of Shrinebuilder is its balance, the way that each band member’s voice is immediately identifiable, but contributes to a greater whole. Opener “Solar Benediction” grooves in classic bluesy Wino fashion, girded by Crover’s trademark kick-drum thump, then crushes with a vintage Neurosis riff; “Blind for All to See” expands on Om’s minimalist godhead-seeking, with Cisneros’ serpentine basslines plumbing the depths while a storm of guitar smoke swirls overhead. These songs topple mountains, but they also seep into pores.
That balance pervaded the album’s creation, too. Kelly and Wino brought most of the musical ideas. Cisneros wrote many of the album’s spiritually resonant lyrics. Crover helped produce and mix the album. Everybody sings. Miraculously, ego management troubles were nonexistent. As Wino puts it, “There was no management. Everybody had something to do, so we were basically left to our own designs, which was totally cool.”
Heavy as Shrinebuilder is, it’s offered in a spirit of humility and appreciation. “We’re just laying more bricks on the foundation that has been laid previously,” says Kelly, explaining the concept behind the band name. “But it’s really an homage to sound, to music and to its infinite wisdom, you know? The power of it. The religion that is sound. The electric church.” Amen.
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