As difficult as it was last night to separate the individual stage personae of the four members of Shrinebuilder from their respective legacies, equally troubling now is how to get through this review of the show at Le Poisson Rouge without devolving into meaningless hyperbole. How does one commune with gods?

Sunday night shows are a sticky proposition always, no matter who it is. The spectre of the coming week looms large and by four in the afternoon, there’s at least part of me that is ready to say, “Screw it,” watch The Simpsons in my pajamas and make that the evening’s main event. Nonetheless, these people being who they are and the club being in Manhattan instead of Brooklyn — it could just as easily have been at Europa; half of Shrinebuilder has played there in the last month with other bands (Wino with Saint Vitus and Al Cisneros with Om) — it was the proverbial offer I couldn’t refuse.

Liturgy, who are (and I quote) “a black metal band from Brooklyn,” opened. I caught their last song and a half after walking in with my sandals and being greeted by the guy at the door who said, “I see you brought your moshing shoes.” Har. Sure enough, Liturgy were a black metal band from Brooklyn. Skinny hipster dudes with a Mayhem influence. There you go.

Next up was Rwake, who more and more are looking like pros on stage. Vocalist CT had hand motions throughout as he grooved on the riffs that made him look like a doom mime, but it was cool anyway. Only trouble with their set was the sound. It was pretty clear the sound guy was working for Shrinebuilder and the soundcheck was geared toward them, since Rwake‘s vocals, both those of CT, who is bravely trying to inject more clean singing into his approach, and of B, came through completely dry and loading with a searing feedback for the duration. Was a bummer. They played a lot of new songs, though, and especially the last of the bunch was a highlight. Relapse has their next record listed as “TBA 2010,” but whenever it lands, chances are it’ll be worth checking out. Chances also are that Sanford Parker‘s name will be on it somewhere, so you know how that goes.

If you find yourself for some reason or other at Le Poisson Rouge, try the Red Fish house beer. I did a few times over, but not so much as to lose any real lucidity. I wanted a clear head for when Shrinebuilder came on, if only so I could remember the show to review it later. The venue was packed by then, but there was still some room to exist by the bar, so I installed myself there and found a spot toward stage right where I could see Scott Kelly, Al Cisneros and Wino as though they were in a line, occasionally catching a glimpse of Dale Crover‘s face as well, but mostly seeing his hands work the drums.

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As if I wasn’t stoked enough for the Shrinebuilder show on Sunday in NYC, some brilliant Californian has posted clips of last night’s show in Los Braingeles on the YuberTous. Fantastic. Apparently at some point they also covered Joy Division. Of course they did.

If you’re going to be at Le Poisson Rouge Sunday night, be sure to look for me. I’ll be the fat guy with long hair and a beard in a black t-shirt and jeans. Real standout in the crowd, ha ha.

Here’s “Science of Anger”:

It?s hard not to feel like you?re standing in the presence of greatness when listening to Shrinebuilder?s self-titled debut (Neurot), and likewise difficult to separate the music from those making it. In that way I?d liken the experience to hearing Nola by Down for the first time and trying to pick out who wrote which riff, only in the case of Shrinebuilder, the personalities involved are even more distinct and with all four members adding vocals, it?s easier to imagine the individual contributions? origins.

A band comprised of Scott Kelly (Neurosis) and Scott ?Wino? Weinrich (The Obsessed, The Hidden Hand, Wino) on guitar, Al Cisneros (OM, Sleep) on bass and Dale Crover (Melvins, Altamont) on drums, there was no way Shrinebuilder wasn?t going to be good, and so the anticipation for the five-track offering has moved from excited to feral over the course of the last year. As an album, Shrinebuilder meets every expectation head on and melds the different styles of Kelly, Wino, Cisneros and Crover so that there is a flow from song to song sounding natural and direct. When album opener, ?Solar Benediction,? kicks off with Wino and Kelly trading vocals, the energy in the recording is driving, powerful and only made stronger by the back and forth musical conversation of the players.

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It’s a miserable morning/afternoon to wake up to here in the valley, rainy and cold, and one gets the sense that any second now every single leaf on every single tree out my window is going to die and fall off and by 3PM it’s going to be winter. As I have tickets to the Yankees game later, I certainly hope that doesn’t happen.

If there’s something to save this wretched looking day, it’s new music from OM and Shrinebuilder, posted at Stereogum and on their MySpace page, respectively. It’s like a big Cisneros party. Because it doesn’t seem like it’ll crash the entire site, here’s “Cremation Ghat II” by OM:

New OM track

Sorry, but I don’t have the technology to directly play a MySpace mp3, so if you want to hear “Pyramid of the Moon” by Shrinebuilder, you’re going to have to take the link above. If there’s anything worth leaving this site for (you can always come right back), that might be it.

Making the case for justice in the universe is the supergroup Shrinebuilder, which the PR wire confirms will be releasing their self-titled debut on Neurot in October. Just in time for it to be album of the year. In case you’ve missed out and don’t know who the band is, here’s the full story, plus some November live dates and the album track list. I’ll see you at the NYC show at the Red Fish.

The first Shrinebuilder performances have been announced! The group have announced several US shows taking place this November. The confirmed shows as of now include a double set (early and late performances)?at Chicago‘s Empty Bottle on November 14th. Following that very next day will be the newly announced show at Le Poisson Rouge in Manhattan.

11/14/2009 Empty Bottle – Chicago, IL (8 PM and 11 PM performances)
11/15/2009 Le Poisson Rouge – New York, NY

The much-anticipated?upcoming debut album?from the unit will be released on Neurot Recordings this October. Featuring Dale Crover (Melvins),?Scott “Wino” Weinrich (Saint Vitus, The Obsessed, Spirit Caravan), Scott Kelly (Neurosis) and?Al Cisneros (Om, Sleep), the album is a powerful?culmination of it’s members’ distinct styles that coalesce into an entity of it’s own. Comprised of five?epic passages showcasing this group’s grandiose merging of soulful doom dirges, spiritual mantras, monstrous buildups and chest-collapsing grooves, the self-titled debut is truly a must-hear album of 2009. The record’s stunning cover art comes from Josh Graham (A Storm of Light, Neurosis‘ visual media artist).

Shrinebuilder tracklisting:
1. Solar Benediction
2. Pyramid of the Moon
3. Blind for all to See
4. The Architect
5. Science of Anger