photo: Jason Christopher Watkins
The world of one-man / one-woman / one-person black metal bands is a smelly, unhygienic and highly opinionated microcosm filled with shut-ins, incels and trolls. But, as Hunter S. famously pointed out, there’s also a downside: Tons of shitty music. Luckily, there’s a handful of solo black-metallurgists making the whole enterprise worthwhile. Which is where Dusk Shrine comes in.
Forged in the sizzling necropolis of Los Angeles, Dusk Shrine is the work of multi-instrumentalist and polymath CC, who also plays guitar in the incredibly good-looking goth trio Black Mare. In melding Wolves in the Throne Room-style trance melodies with the ferocity of mid-2000s Gorgoroth, a mix of clean and unclean vocals, and mesmerizing space-synth passages, he’s struck upon a transcendent and highly listenable form all his own.
Five years in the making, Dusk Shrine’s debut Celestial Trauma arrives digitally on July 19, followed by a vinyl release via Ixiol Productions later this year. Album opener “Torn Forest” premieres right here, right now. Says CC: “My guiding principle throughout the writing process was how an album is distinguished from just a collection of songs by whether or not it can represent something akin to a time-capsule or a monument. Despite technically being the last song written, ‘Torn Forest’ stands at the beginning by embodying the spirit I sought to express from day one: catharsis by any means necessary.”
