“Highly anticipated” does not even begin to describe the hype surrounding Shrinebuilder’s debut album. The doom supergroup features Saint Vitus / Obsessed / Spirit Caravan / Hidden Hand guitar hero Scott “Wino” Weinrich, Neurosis / Tribes of Neurot leader Scott Kelly, former Sleep and current Om bassist Al Cisneros, and Melvins drummer Dale Crover… basically THE definitive who’s who of doomo all-stars. Roadburn.com is now reporting that the album is finally coming this autumn via Neurot Recordings, and they’ve posted the breathtaking artwork by A Storm of Light’s Josh Graham (a small portion of which I’ve posted above). They also report that the band will play several gigs in the U.S. later this year with European dates to possibly follow.

Speaking of A Storm of Light, they’ve got a crushing new track called “Midnight” streaming on their own website (take that, MySpace!). The track comes from the new double-disc record Forgive Us Our Trespasses, due in September via Neurot as well.

Thanks to MS Maniac Charlie F. for the tips.

-VN

Shrinebuilder, the project that features in equal measure Wino (St, Vitus, Hidden Hand), Scott Kelly (Neurosis), Al Cisneros (Om, Sleep), and Dale Crover (Melvins), will be in the studio with Toshi Kasai (Melvins, Big Business) from January 9th through January 11th, according to a press release sent exclusively to MetalSucks by the band’s publicist. Shrinebuilder’s debut full-length is set for a summer 2009 release on Neurot Recordings.

Scott Kelly has announced that he will report live from the studio via http://www.weburnthroughthenight.blogspot.com beginning no later than Saturday, January 10th.  Look for guest blogs by other members of Shrinebuilder as well as possible in-studio photos from the band.

-VN

Holy crapticles. If these rumors are true we’ve definitely got an early entry for “Best Show/Tour of ’08″ on our hands. Crustcake reports that experimental metal pioneers Neurosis will be playing a pair of shows at the 100-year-old Brooklyn Masonic Temple on January 24 and 25. A Storm of Light and U.S. Christmas will support one show each, and both shows will feature a yet-to-be-announced ‘more-famous’ metal band from Atlanta. If I were a betting man I’d choose Mastodon over Stuck Mojo… but hey, you never know what those crazy Neurosis dudes will do next.

In other Neurosis-related news, guitarist Scott Kelly is working on a doom side project called Shrinebuilder with Al Cisneros and Chris Hakius of Om and the legendary Wino (The Obsessed, The Hidden Hand). THIS is going to be fucking awesome.

-VN