Review: Shrine - Life Wind

Artist: Shrine

Album: Life Wind

Label: Self-released

Release date: June 2025

The artist having taken a comfortable three years between each of his previous three full-length albums, the last thing I expected Shrine to do was drop another LP just three months after the phenomenal previous album Sentinel, which is still the most likely candidate for the AOTY title this year (at least in my book). Then again, the only thing you can expect with Shrine is the unexpected, and Life Wind is no exception; its release so soon after Sentinel in no way implies that it's the second part of a double album or similar - quite the opposite, in fact, as this latest release threads completely new waters for this longstanding Bulgarian project.

With a running time of almost 40 minutes spread across only three tracks, Life Wind promises something new and different from the outset. Not that the sound itself has radically changed; all the trademark Shrine elements are still there, including a pronounced sense of dynamics, powerful crescendoes, futuristic, heavily electronic yet emotional melodies, and a lush sonic background interspersed with bips, blips and other alien components that feel like actual field recordings from unknown planets and distant galaxies. The difference this time around is that compositions are allowed significantly more time to breathe, evolve and develop, making this album feel much more introspective than probably any other Shrine release. Hristo, the mastermind behind the project, is infamous for drawing his inspiration from a wide variety of sources, ranging from classic works of art and literature to recent video games; Life Wind is an example of the latter, taking the Zeffo planet from Star Wars: Fallen Order as the starting point and positing the reasons behind the extinction of the ancient civilisation that used to inhabit it. This tangential storyline is represented through three tracks, each named after a sage from the decaying society in its last throes. The first track Eilram invokes a genuine feeling of conversation despite the absence of any spoken word, as if listening to musings on self-inflicted doom filled with bitterness and regret. The second track Miktrull and its rhythmic, almost hypnotic chimes feel exactly as if observing a cosmic funeral dirge of a nation proudly marching towards its end. The last and perhaps most potent track, Kujet, is best described as a desperate warning to future generations not to thread down the same path of pride that inevitably leads to downfall. Every time I listened to the album, I was in disbelief that almost 40 minutes had elapsed between its beginning and end, a testament to the engagement the album was able to elicit from this otherwise jaded dark ambient fan.

More than anything, Life Wind is a wonderful example of Shrine's ability to depict highly descriptive storylines through sound. Despite joining a formidable catalogue of releases, it manages to sound fresh and offer new perspectives and new takes on a familiar soundscape. While it doesn't quite reach the heights of Sentinel (admittedly an incredibly difficult task in itself), it is nevertheless a highly enjoyable journey that rewards the listener with the revelation of new layers on each repeated spin. As ever, the main question is where does he go from here?, and I genuinely can't wait to find out the answer.

Rating: 9/10