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<\/a><\/p>\nI do not get to go to concerts as often as I used to. When I first moved to my adopted hometown in my early twenties with no kids, I went to shows all the time. Life happens, and next thing you know I had not been to a show since 2011. My wife, out of the goodness of her heart, bought tickets for our sixteen-year-old son and myself to see Clutch and Corrosion of Conformity when they came to a local theater in October. I was so pumped to see Clutch and CoC, I did not pay attention to who the opening band was. As my son and I were waiting for the show to start, I noticed the openers were Venice, CA\u2019s The Shrine. I had noticed the name on that month\u2019s promo sheet, so I was interested as to what I would hear. About three songs into their set I emailed Cristina to request their debut album for Century Media Records, \u201cRare Breed,\u201d be sent to me for review. For those of us unlucky enough to live in the US, it is not available until January 15, 2016. It has been available in Europe since October 30.<\/p>\n
The Shrine is Josh Landau (Guitar\/Vocals), Court Murphy (Bass), and Jeff Murray (Drums). The trio has been perfecting what they call \u201cPsychedelic Violence Rock and Roll\u201d since 2008. It is a hearty mix of Black Sabbath and Black Flag with plenty of booze, weed, and skateboards thrown in for good measure.<\/p>\n
The songs on “Rare Breed,” as I was privy to, are made for being played live. The lightly grated voice of front man Josh Landau fits perfectly. Repeatedly, The Shrine hook you with catchy intro riffs and old school punk\u00a0choruses. The other two band members back Josh\u2019s equal parts Iommi and Nugent guitar attack with a heavy groove and perfectly placed shouts.<\/p>\n
\u201cRare Breed” is on the one hand an old school classic rock album with songs like \u2018What\u2019s Left for Me\u2019 and \u2018The Vulture.\u2019 On the other hand, it impresses with its punk attitude on tracks such as \u2018Never More Than Now,\u2019 \u2018Death to Invaders,\u2019 and \u2018Acid Drop.\u2019 Opener \u2018Coming Down Quick\u2019 starts thick before it erupts into a steady gallop. The title track is built on a seriously heavy riff that has some doom characteristics to it. \u2018Savage Skulls And Nomads\u2019 is also in this vein. The more moderate numbers are also pretty interesting. \u2018Dusted And Busted\u2019 crawls slowly into your mind. The same goes for the seven minute long \u2018Space Steppin\u2019’ – a worthy closer to the album.<\/p>\n
With “Rare Breed,” The Shrine has managed to keep the sound of the album in the spirit of traditional, groovy, slightly doomy, old school rock music. The Shrine have no intention in making compromises. “Rare Breed” is all about what the guys wanted to play. The music is to the point with no frills. I think that is exactly what they wanted, and it fits perfectly into The Shrine\u2019s musical journey.<\/p>\n
Tracklist:<\/strong><\/p>\n Playing Time:<\/strong>\u00a041:11<\/p>\n Release Date:<\/strong> EU –\u00a0October 30, 2015 \u00a0 US –\u00a0January 15, 2016<\/p>\n Label:<\/strong> Century Media Records<\/p>\n Website:<\/strong>\u00a0theshrinefuzz.tumblr<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n