The Holy Shroud - Ghost Repeaters

Loel Campbell is the real fucking deal. Genuine talent mixed with imagination and stamina. I've seen him play fill in sets for Kary and Trephines, two bands that are part of every Yarmouth County musician's DNA, and whom have albums that have aged better than most. I've seen him play countless times with Wintersleep and Contrived, his two main outfits for a while. I've seen him take part in the blossoming of Holy Fuck, the little band that could. I've seen him double up on the drums for an entire Jon Epworth set (alongside Mike Belyea, whom I've written about already. You can watch a clip of it here). Shit, I've seen Loel play more shows than any other drummer. I'm sure no one will be surprised to see me writing about him.

I was so close to writing about one of the Contrived records, but I just knew that I would start writing and get lost on how to sum up how fucking awesome those records/that band are. There is just too much history there to cram it into a blog post.

The Holy Shroud's history is much simpler.

1/2 North Of America +

1/2 Contrived

= One hell of a rock band.

When The Holy Shroud formed I had just started to come to the city for shows, and I saw them play at The Idiot with Radarfame. They came out all dressed in white with white ski masks on and they ripped through their set flailing around and blowing everyone away. It looked sort of this.

As far as drumming goes, this is Loel at his most spastic and uninhibited. The energy never wanes, but his playing never loses focus. He is completely locked in with Mike Bigelow's bass, and this record is one of many examples of why those two were the most sought after rhythm section in Halifax when they lived here. The amount of sweat that went into these songs is unimaginable. For a brief period The Holy Shroud were the best band in Halifax, even opening up for The Arcade Fire during their legendary performance at The Marquee for the Halifax Pop Explosion. We might only have one full length record to remember them by, but what an album it is.

The thing about Loel's drumming is that it has that little extra touch that can never be emulated. You can always tell when it's him on the skins, but you can't pinpoint how. I think one of my favorite songs is Landmarks to Postmarks, where the drums and guitars are totally in sync, only to have the guitars drop out and the drums take the lead. The rolls in Calling In Confederate Debts are also lightning fast and perfectly executed, candy to a drummers ear.

If you have been paying attention to anything musically you'll know that Loel is constantly breaking new ground with Wintersleep (the band just performed on David Letterman, the first for a Nova Scotian band) and if you've done any research you know about Contrived and all of the Dependent Music bands he was involved in. I'm hoping that if you've never heard this album you'll seek it out, because it's a treasure worth finding. The amount of quality albums Loel has played on is massive, and it gets larger every year. Hopefully this one won't get lost in the past.