EIDOLON – Sacred Shrine

In 1993 Glen and Shaw Drover started mapping out their quest for music domination. Rather than taking the “gig until you break” route that is traditional in Rock/Metal, the Drover brothers opted to start writing and recording their own material. Shopping for their own deal proved successful, and by 1996 Eidolon, the band, had released their first album, Zero Hour. As quickly as that, Eidolon was on the Heavy Metal map. Both Glen, guitar/vocals, and Shawn, drums/vocals, established themselves as standouts in their trade. They played a solid Progressive style Metal, which often took its tempo queues from the Thrash genre. His dynamic prowess would eventually land Glen a gig playing alongside the legendary King Diamond. Then, in 2004, with the story of the year being the return of Dave Mustaine and Megadeth, the Drovers would ensure themselves a notable place in Rock ‘N’ Roll history by becoming touring members with the revitalized Megadeth.

Despite landing high profile gigs, the Drovers refused to leave behind their passion, Eidolon. For over a decade, the band has been releasing albums and has become known as a dominant force in the Power Metal scene. Shawn plays a thundering double bass with intricate time signatures, while Glen can lay down a serious low chunk rhythm and then expound with shredding solos and intricate picking and chord voicing. Both brothers have a better than average vocal style too, although they leave the main singing to current lead vocalist Pat Mulock.

Now to the item at hand, the release of Sacred Shrine. Where did they find the time, you might ask, to record an album while they have spent the better part of the last two years touring in support of Megadeth’s The System Has Failed? The answer is, they didn’t. Sacred Shrine is actually a compilation of the demos the brothers were making with bassist John Tempest back in 1994 and 1995.

Depending on how you look at this, you may see it as the find of a lifetime, or you may see this as a band striking while the fire is still hot. For a release of demo work, these tracks are very tight. They are definitely thought out compositions with full solos and quality tracking. The album is comprised of ten original tracks and a cover of Fates Warning’s “Silent Cries.” Glen and Shawn split the vocal duties on this release, and they both sound like they could step into a lead vocal situation without much effort. Their melodies are a little stiff, and this point is made evident when Glen sings “Silent Cries.” Having the original effort to mimic, this is far and away his best vocal performance.

Bottom line, Sacred Shrine is primarily a diehard Eidolon fan’s release. It is a better than average demo release with some skilled musicianship. Until Eidolon starts racking up the accolades that King Diamond or Megadeth have, then these tracks would have been better featured as a giveaway on their website. However, as they say in the trades, timing is everything and currently the brothers Drover are the talk of the town.