Here is the self-released debut album from Chicagoan purveyors of sludge/doom metal, Shrineburner. It’s a damn solid debut, though hardly a game-changer, but it will scratch the itch for fans of Conan, Ufomammut, Usnea, Armed for Apocalypse, etc as well as the recent Fane record, and fellow Chicagoans, Minsk and Lair of the Minotaur, and even some Iron Monkey and Crowbar — though this is definitely more Midwestern and less fuzzy or Swampy.
Also, riff-wise and structure-wise, I get some early Mastodon and Baroness, but with a thicker, earthier, sludgier, and doomier (so…..Chicagoan?) backbone; case in point: “Spectral Cataclysm”, which starts the album proper after a short instrumental “Void of Guilt”. After its black/crust-basting opening few bars, it settles into a Mastodon-ish lurch and stagger. The vocals, though, are pure sludge/doom with a gritty, earthy bellow from guitarist Peter Norman (the trio is rounded out by drummer Edward Hamel and CJ Johnson on bass).
There are a few damn fine moments scattered around the 6-song, 45-minute affair. Whether it’s the aforementioned blackened blasts in “Spectral Cataclysm”, the hefty opening riffs of “Bodies Dragged to Sunlight”, the crusty sway towards the end of “Slow Death Chant”, or the stank-face-inducing bass run and heaving, subsequent riff late in the album’s sprawling, 13-minute centerpiece, “An Ocean of Broken Hope. It’s all rendered with a solid production and master that I’m sure has way more impact in a live environment, as this is pretty clean on record and the low end isn’t quite as devastating as some of their peers.
The album ends with more Mastodon-imbuing riffs of the title track, and while I feel the band is more effective when slowing it down a bit and leaning a little more into the sludge/doom, it’s still an enjoyable stammering, staggering track, and does end with a nice sludgy sway, finishing the album on a high note.
