Shrine

The album is based on the "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind" manga (1982) by Hayao Miyazaki and the subsequent anime of the same name on Studio Ghibli (1984). It's a story about Earth's future a thousand years after the collapse of industrial civilization when most of the planet is covered by a toxic jungle filled with deadly spores that choke all human life. The series is a recommended read for anyone interested in the relationship between humanity and nature.

Artwork co-created by Nihil and Shrine.

Press release: "Descent" is a two-track collaboration between key Bulgarian ambient acts Shrine and Mytrip. Sharing a passion for loud and textural ambient sound, they delved deeper in organic sounds and looping tonal layers, which are intertwined with sparse industrial soundscapes. This brief musical offering successfully showcases both artists' signature takes on ambient. The heavy-weight sound production, courtesy of Shrine, makes "Descent" a memorable experience, certainly worth owning on a 7'' vinyl.

A 2-track collaboration with fellow drone project Mytrip. Co-released by Amek Collective and Corvus Records.

Cover photograph by Tory Bishop. Graphic design by Shrine.

"Distorted Legends, pt.3" is the third installment in SHRINE's Distorted Legends seven-inch vinyl series that started back in 2006 and was originally released on Drone Records in 2008. The second part (recorded together with the first one) is still a draft that never received proper mixing and mastering and it is currently uncertain if it will be finished or not. Following the same idea, the third one is a further exploration of the themes of civilization's decline, industrial pollution, and genetic deterioration.

Cover painting by Sylvia Gosse. Graphic design by Shrine.

Press release: In a world like this where the fundamentals of creation and the origin of life still remain beyond the scope of rational comprehension, this album will take you on a metaphysical journey into the primordial chaos of the building blocks of the Universe. It is based on the concept of the Four Elements - Earth, Water, Wind, Fire, plus the Fifth Element, Quintessence, which here represents the abiogenesis, and organic life itself. Each track is here named after a specific Element and the titles are in Old Greek with Latin transcription. A rich texture of field recordings play carefully against strange instruments and haunting voices against a massive wall of drone. Recommended for fans of massive walls of sound.

"Quintessence" is dedicated to the Elements, the four classical building components of the Universe according to the philosophical traditions of antiquity, plus the so called Fifth Element which has different names in different cultures, but is known as "Quintessence" in the Western tradition. In this case, the quintessence is the abiogenesis, and the organic life itself, represented as the end goal of chaos. The concept came after the "Hydor" track ("Water"), which originally was created as a filler for my live set at Phobos IX.

The work differes musically from previous SHRINE releases in the common use of percussions and soprano samples, and also sonically, being the first SHRINE record mastered with tube equipment. The artwork is a collaboration between me and Simon Heath.

"Celestial Fire" is based on a fictional story created by the British game studio CORE Design for one of their projects back in the '90s (namely "Tomb Raider 3").

It is about a huge meteorite that crashed into the landmass of Antarctica millions of years ago when the continent was still located in the tropics. In the present age, some 10 thousand years ago, the ancient Polynesians reached the Antarctic coast and, despite the harsh weather conditions, settled there - whereupon they found an island that had a notably warmer climate and a mysterious abundance of wildlife all around the meteorite crater. Soon they discovered the meteorite itself and its strange otherworldly powers, and they started to worship it as a deity. They built a huge city over the crater and continued to develop their colony further, but after severe mutations started to occur among the newborn (people were born without faces, etc.), the settlers fled in terror and never came back. Before they left, they sealed the meteorite into a deep underground chamber, locked by four "keys" - four unique objects crafted from the same alien material as the meteorite itself.

Later on, in 1834, the "HMS Beagle" exploration ship (with Charles Darwin on board) landed nearby and a few crew members discovered the ancient city. They didn't reach the meteorite cavern but they found the 4 artifacts and took them, distributing them amongst themselves. Those sailors continued their voyage over the globe, but eventually most of them perished or went missing and the alien artifacts were lost. The traces of the first one were lost in the jungles of northeast India, in the tribal territories between Bhutan and Bangladesh. Later that stone became known among treasure hunters as the "Infada Stone" and it was rumored to be involved in the local cults of Shiva. The second one, a lizard-shaped crystalline dagger called "ORA", disappeared on an uncharted Polynesian island in the central Pacific inhabited by the descendants of the people who originally crafted the artifacts. The third one was lost in the American "Wild West" and later, in the 20th century, was somehow obtained by the US government which sent it to Area 51 where it was used as an energy source for reverse engineering of alien technology. Scientists referred to it as "Element 115". The sole survivor of the group of sailors finally returned to London and sold off his artifact, believing it to be cursed. The stone was put on display in a museum, but was later stolen and eventually obtained by a shady techno corporation where it was used in illegal experiments on humans. That stone was called "The Eye of Isis".

The story follows the gathering of the 4 artifacts and the rediscovering of the meteorite, hypothesized to contain the most important findings in genetics and evolution since Darwin.

This album is a tribute to the amazing lore created by CORE Design and should in no way be associated with the awful newer Tomb Raider games (developed by another studio) and the even more awful Hollywood movies.

Artwork by Dehn Sora. Artifact models by Dimitar Krusev.

Press release: The new full length by SHRINE is dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster that happened on April 26th, 1986. Composed during a post-operative convalescence period in 2015 Hristo Gospodinov says of the process: "To me the Chernobyl theme has always been very special not only because I witnessed the nuclear sunburn effect myself back in 1986 when I was a kid, but also because I find it to be the closest glimpse of a pending apocalypse we have seen so far. I find it terrifying not only because of the devastating effect of the ionizing radiation itself, but also because it was a man-made event. To me, the parallel with the biblical book of Revelation is inescapable." Laced with emotional distress and SHRINE’s superbly crafted soundscapes and notable sound design skills, “Ordeal 26.04.86” serves as a tribute to those that suffered, and still suffer from the irreparable.

The idea of this album came to me about 10 years ago, but I never did anything else except for writing down the tracklist (which originally contained 4 pieces). In fact, this is the first conceptual SHRINE album. The thematics of all my other works were created after the music had been in progress, or completed, so this is the first time when the idea of the album preceded the music. I started the actual work on it during convalescence from surgery in 2015 - back then I wasn't able to move properly, so I spent a lot of time at home, often thinking about the effect of humanity's technological progress over the human body. It was the perfect time to revive my old "Chernobyl" idea. Of course some of the track names changed after I started to compose the music, the album title changed too, but the concept remained the same - I wanted a thematical work with introduction, exhibition, and conclusion. So I ended up with 3 very long tracks and I sent the material to Cyclic Law this way, but then decided that I can tell my story better if I split each track into two. And so I did.

The artwork of "Ordeal 26.04.86" was created by Vincent of TREHA SEKTORI and myself in 2016, but the more important part of the work was done by Vincent - he designed the cityscape backgrounds and the 3D album title. I did the vector design on the front, back and inside covers - all atomic models (including the two exact recreations of an Uranium atom), etc. I also did the typographic design and the "on-disc" artwork for this release.

Trivia: "Atomgrad" means "atomic city" in Russian and is referring the city of Pripyat. "Unit 4" is referring to the infamous 4th reactor block in the Chernobyl NPP. In one of the tracks you can hear the St.Michael prayer spoken in Latin. In the last track you can hear "The Opening of the Sixth Seal" text (Revelation 6:12-17) quoted in Russian; that was sampled from the movie "STALKER" by Andrey Tarkovsky (1979).

Press release: A very personal and poignant work that differs significantly from other SHRINE releases, being a lot heavier in atmosphere with a lingering gloom and largely saturated with negativity. Exploring the burden of the human ego from a personal point of view, it aims to expose a different take on Freud's "Death Drive" theory. Delve into the depths and let Shrine guide you through its singular shadow world.

"NIHIL" is the fourth full-lenght SHRINE release and the second one for Cyclic Law. The album was completed in September 2013 as a commemoration of SHRINE’s 10th year anniversary (Sep.2003 - Sep.2013) and brings together seven tracks composed between 2009 and 2013. Loosely reminiscent of Sigmund Freud's "Death Drive" theory (also known as "Death Instinct") and dealing with themes like despair, hatred, denial and death, this work turns to be the darkest and most oppressive SHRINE record up to date.
"A gift for you, who wake up in the middle of the night and know you couldn't live with yourself any longer."

Press release: To commemorate our 10th year of activity, we’ve collected new and previously unreleased material by most of Cyclic Law’s roster, whose music has been released on the label over the past 10 years. This very special label sampler features exclusive tracks by ALLSEITS, ARCANA, AUN, BEYOND SENSORY EXPERIENCE, DESIDERII MARGINIS, GUSTAF HILDEBRAND, KAMMARHEIT, KARJALAN SISSIT, NEW RISEN THRONE, NORTHAUNT & MULM, PARHELION, SHRINE, SINKE DUS, SOPHIA, SVARTSINN & PSYCHOMANTEUM, THE FLOATING WORLD, THERRADAEMON, TREHA SEKTORI, TRIANGULAR ASCENSION, VISIONS and VORTEX. This compendium stands as an homage to all artists involved throughout the years, and with whom their unique approach to atmospheric music have forged the Cyclic Law Sound. Onward to a new dawn...

A track that has been created for Cyclic Law's 10th year anniversary sampler. It's good to be a part of a big family.

Press release: Somnia is a complex audio metaphor that can be interpreted as an aural equivalent of a "low level" lucid dream state - a dream in which the dreamer is not fully aware he is dreaming but still has the ability to control the dream. Based on processing of multiple sound sources ranging from audio synthesis to acoustic instruments and field recordings, "Somnia" explores several imaginary realities immersing you into a lucid-like experience through sound. Almost an hour long, it contains 8 thematically independent compositions representing an extended blend of ambient, acoustic music and nature sounds. Use it as a sound guide to lucid dreaming.

"SOMNIA" is the third full-lenght SHRINE release and the debut on Cyclic Law, containing eight tracks composed between 2006 and 2010. Initially scheduled for release on the now defunct French ambient label SNOWBLOOD, this album underwent some major changes over the years. It was ready for release in 2009, with a different track list and a different title. The original title ("Anthems of Extinction") was denied by the label, due to their strict anti dark/drone/industrial policy. After the deal with Snowblood failed in 2010, some tracks were dropped from the album, while others were recreated, and also several new tracks were composed. In this way, after substantial changes, "Somnia" landed on Cyclic Law's release list one year later.

Press release: "Wander" is a brilliant 25 min long piece of multi-layered ambient drift. The basic concept is somewhat dualistic, even antagonistic - 2 long tracks opposing one another, representing the contrast between nature's mystical harmony (heaven) in "There" and the human industrial progress (hell) in "Back". According to that, the work can be also interpreted as an entrance into a dream-state and then a return to reality (there~back).

"Wander" was initially meant to be released on Drone Records but it turned out too long to fit a 7-inch vinyl plate - back then I didn't know that you can put only about 8 minutes on each side, and both "There" and "Back" are above 12 minutes. Then Stefan Knappe gave me the option to shorten the tracks or to create something new exclusive for Drone Records. Of course I didn't want to shorten anything so I recorded new material which later became "Distorted Legends". As for "Wander", even being too long for an EP, it was still way too short to be released on a CD alone, so a friend from Poland (the founder of SANTA SANGRE webzine) suggested the idea of making a split release with another artist. I offered that to Jaakko of LINGUA FUNGI and soon the split was scheduled on Corvus Records' release list.

Press release: Dream & Distortion. The melancholia of distorted synths combined with odd micro noises & effects. The fusion of rough and thunderous drones with hidden melodies. It evokes a strong emotional impact, like the feeling of being stuck in a confusing dream. SHRINE's philosophy shows a way to realize that what we call "reality" is to be mistrusted based upon our usual perceptions. The distortion of this reality opens up a chance to better understand its true essence and confront the things that lie under the surface.

After the release of "Wander" was cancelled by Drone Records because it was too long to fit a 7-inch vinyl plate, four new SHRINE tracks were composed the same year, to be released exclusively on Drone Records and that is what became "Distorted Legends". The new material was split into two parts with the idea to make two separate releases, but only the first part ended up as a "Drone" EP (at the time I was working on it I didn't know that Drone Records only allowed one release per artist). And just for the record, this is the final SHRINE release that was created only with computer software. Which obviously doesn't mean anything since a music review once mentioned: "Their music has that typical sound of 1980s pre-laptop drone".

Press release: A clear anti-utopic image of a desolated future world. Aural exploration of the point of no return. It will take you into hollow cryogenic prisons lying down among the weedy ruins of deserted cities. Echoes of machine songs glorify the end of Mankind. The Earth is waiting for its silent end beneath the rays of dying artificial suns. Welcome to the FUTURE.

"The Final Asylum" is not only the first SHRINE album released on CD, but also the very first SHRINE record in general. It was released in April 2006 - about a month after "Harmony, Bliss, Rust", but all the tracks were composed and recorded back in 2003 and 2004. The release date was chosen to coincide with RAISON d'ÊTRE's live performance in Sofia in April 2006, where SHRINE did an opening set. The first 99 copies include a bonus disc containing a 12 minute remix of RAISON d'ÊTRE's track "Deep Enshrouded", but according to the host label, the special edition is long sold out.

Press release: "Harmony, Bliss, Rust" is a passage from tranquility to disharmony. Three lengthy compositions will take you to uncharted desolate places with their slowly evolving sounds. The beginning is very soft and laid back and the end is harsh and distorted... but this doesn't keep the album from being soothing. It works great both as usual background ambience and for active listening.

"Harmony, Bliss, Rust" is the very first SHRINE release, but it's not the first SHRINE record in general. It was recorded in 2005, about one year after "The Final Asylum" and released digitally on the now defunct Swedish net label MIRAKEL MUSIK in March 2006 for free. The original source for download is gone since the label closed down in 2008 and the domain mirakelmusik.se got disabled in 2009, but you can still download any of their releases from archive.org, just do a Google search. Also, I found a partial  copy of the original website  still available online, most probably unauthorized, but all the music was free anyway.

In 2018, 12 years after the original release, Amek re-resleased this album on tape. You can still download digital for free (or pay-what-you-want) on my Bandcamp page though.