Monday 4 June 2012

The Shrine - Primitive Blast Review


The Shrine are a Psychedelic Violence Rock and Roll Band from Venice, Los Angeles, California, USA

The members are:

Josh Landau on guitar/vocals
Courtland Murphy on bass
Jeff Murray on Drums

The Shrine are a hotly tipped as they put it in their own words "Psychedelic Violence Rock and Roll Band". Their music is a mixture of Punk, Thrash, Garage Rock and Stoner Rock to brutal effect.

These guys have shared the stage with some legendary bands - Kyuss Lives!, Pentagram, Graveyard, Fu Manchu, Howlin’ Rain, Holy Grail and The Sword. Their 2010 debut album was produced by the legendary  Black Flag’s Chuck Dukowski.

So you know these guys must be good with a pedigree like that. Well they are about to release their highly anticipated new album - Primitive Blast on Teepee Records on July 10th.

Primitive Blast is a 9 song 33 minute blast of lo-fi garage rock punk thrash style Stoner Rock riffage. It's not the most sophisticated sound in the world but you can't deny the sheer enjoyment of them all.

This album just plain out fucking rocks like a bastard on a bad acid trip from start to finish. These guys take the vibes of Black Sabbath and match it with the intensity of the hardcore icons - Black Flag.

The guys call themselves a Loud Heavy Rock Band - Plain and Simple. But it's much more than that. It combines Punk, Garage, Stoner combine with the aggression of a Thrash Metal Band.

Standout tracks include - Zipper Tripper, Freak Fighter, Primitive Blast, and the 6:34 minute epic - Deep River (Livin To Die).

Subtlety is not a word in this brilliant band's vocabulary. The songs are angry filled messages of pure rock n roll the great bands of the past used to play. This album feels like your being punched in the face over and over again but they have this likeable charm to their music that is very hard to ignore.

The album is very raw in places but that is the band's intention to get the true feel of their music. Just put this in your MP3 Player and play as loud as you can. The Shrine will have you in their midst in no time at all.

It's full of distorted lo-fi dirty riffs with vocals to match. Josh might not be the greatest singer of them all but he never proclaims to be. He is just a member of a fucking great rock-band. He sings from the heart and that's all that matters in my opinion. From the live videos I have seen of this great band in action - Josh is a highly charismatic frontman and it shows on this superb album.

The album is expertly produced and captures this great band at their most raw and honest. I applaud the band for giving their album a stripped back lo-fi feel. It's the perfect way to hear this great band's music.

Fucking Superb and Highly Recommended.

Primitive Blast will be available from all good stockists from July 10th 2012.

Check This Great Band Below: