Space Rock chaos by COSMIC REEF TEMPLE and SHRINKWRAP KILLERS!
Heavy space surf collective COSMIC REEF TEMPLE and twisted punk/new wave outfit SHRINKWRAP KILLERS have joined forces to release a three-song split of other worldly proportions. Set for release on October 2nd via Wave Guardian Records and swathed in the cover art of Santos Illustration, all tracks were captured, mixed, and mastered by Greg Wilkinson at Earhammer Studio in Oakland, California.
Split Track Listing:
COSMIC REEF TEMPLE – Side A
1. Wave Constellation
SHRINKWRAP KILLERS – Side B
2. No Coordinates & I’m Fucked
3. It’s Not A Dead Body Inside This Bag
The split will be released as a limited-edition seven-inch (300 black vinyl and 200 translucent blue vinyl with glow in the dark 45RPM adapters) and digitally. Find preorders HERE.
Self-described as, “a gathering of the Cosmic wizard-priests to worship Cod through streams of space-time, exiled to the inverted desert, wandering the plains of psychedelia…,” COSMIC REEF TEMPLE emerged to the Known Universe circa 2014-2015 A.D. in Santa Cruz, California. The band began as a two-piece guitar and drums act, forged from the ashes of Folivore. The duo wanted to fuse surf music with heavy metal. After composing some solid songs, more members of the TEMPLE were recruited, adding synthesizers and saxophone to expand the melodic atmosphere and finally bass guitar to provide the welcomed heaviness.
Once the original goal of creating surf metal was achieved, the band’s sound began evolving traveling further into extreme metal, prog, psych, and Middle Eastern tones and rhythms. The sounds can invoke images of the crushing surge of any planet’s ocean, the mindfulness of drifting into space, bending the very laws of physics and beyond. Drawing influences from John Zorn, Aluk Todolo, Kayo Dot, Secret Chiefs 3, The Astroglides, and Oranssi Pazuzu as well as local Santa Cruz heavies The Mermen and Mammatus and of course legends such as Melvins, Hawkwind, Dick Dale, Pink Floyd, and Black Sabbath, the end result is expansive and cohesive (when it means to be). The band has release one full-length, Age Of The Spaceborn, via Transylvanian Tapes as well as several splits, all tracked at Earhammer in Oakland, with a sophomore long player currently in the plotting stages.
“Visqueen, plastic, and shrinkwrap help distort the visions. Don’t stare or you will destroy both retinas. Conspiracies and folklore in past, present, and future are all truths. It’s best to hide our identities while delivering these messages. We are SHRINKWRAP KILLERS…” Created in October of 2018, Greg Wilkinson twisted punk, new wave, and garage rock into a contorted blend of catchy tunes. Initially influenced by the Spits, Wall Of Voodoo, Devo, Dick Dale, and Ennio Morricone, the sound rapidly unraveled into its own animal. The project never abandoned its initial concept, only expanded upon it. Sprinkles of death rock, post punk, even pop all ensnared by a unique heaviness not common to this genre of music often appear. One may attribute the fact that all songs are composed in C Standard across all instruments. Some may consider his background in music.
All compositions are created and recorded by Wilkinson himself at his own Earhammer Studio. He is best known for working with bands such as Necrot, Autopsy, Graves At Sea, Annihilation Time, High On Fire, Vastum, Iron Lung, Acephalix, Lecherous Gaze, Mortuous, Undergang, and his own bands Brainoil and Deathgrave to name just a few. The goal was to create a project able to record consistently in the down time even if only for an hour at a time. This would require the ease of a “plug and play” mentality in lieu of laboriously working on tones. Being a fan of punk, garage, and new wave music, this would be a perfect medium to execute songs with such limitations.
About Wave Guardian Records:
Based out of Santa Cruz, Wave Guardian Records was established in late 2019 by Sam Boodt who’s been a local musician for the decade prior playing various forms of heavy music. Boodt broke into the scene playing drums for the funeral doom band Death Monk and later joining psychedelic blackened doom band Folivore on bass. Currently Boodt remains active in a handful of bands as a founding member including COSMIC REEF TEMPLE (guitar/heavy space surf), Dipygus (guitar/death metal), Time Panther (drums/psychedelic riff rock), and Purple Bong River (synth/kraut drone). Santa Cruz has an eccentric history of psychedelia, surfing, and skateboarding and its music scene tends to reflect that.
Wave Guardian Records specializes in exploring the realms of psych, surf, synth, and prog. The label will withdraw various analog releases from the Reverberatory to satisfy the auditory needs of those who seek beyond the standard dimension of music. Expanding past music, the label’s interests include science fiction, vacuum tube, and discrete transistor electronics and high fantasy as well as visual and literary arts involving the aforementioned topics. Keep an ear to the sea and an eye to the stars for echoes of the Reverberatory.COSMIC REEF TEMPLE:
Wave Guardian Of The Reverberatory – guitar
Sub-Frequency Fractal Emitter – bass
Celestial Wind Talker – saxophone
Summoner of Galactic Storms – synthesizer
Interstellar Time Keeper – drums
SHRINKWRAP KILLERS:
Greg Wilkinson – all instruments
