Album Review: 'Revengeance' by Conan

There are few bands who have the power and craft to redefine your preconceptions of what it is to be HEAVY. There's only one band who've caused Matt Pike (Sleep) to need to take a shit after watching them. That band is Conan. 

Returning with their latest skull-crushing long player 'Revengeance' (out now on Napalm Records), Conan - a deadly trio of bass, guitar, drums - again demonstrate their ability to write riff after relentless riff that pounds you into submission. 

Hailing from Liverpool UK, Conan are Jon Davis (guitar / vocals), Rich Lewis (drums) and Chris Fielding (bass / vocals). Jon and Chris also run Skyhammer Studios where the band produce records for the likes of Electric Wizard, Winterfylleth and Witchsorrow, as well as Conan of course.  

For the unfamiliar, Conan's sound is doom-inspired gargantuan down-tuned (to drop F) riffs, interspersed with warrior battle-cry vocals, with plenty of feedback thrown in. It's a potent cocktail and one the band have perfected over three records. It's dense. It's intense. 

As their name suggests, Conan seek inspiration from Norse mythology, folklore and fantasy, battle-axes and spears. Track titles like ‘Throne of Fire’, ‘Wrath Gauntlet’ and ‘Earthenguard’ are a case in point. Yet this is never tongue-in-cheek. These guys mean it and deliver monolithic riffs one after another like a repeating tsunami-like wave. The album’s closer ’Earthenguard' - clocking in just shy of 12 minutes - captivates the mood of the whole record. Dark. Brooding. Epic. 

Thumbs up also need to go to the production. It's not easy to condense the sheer weight of noise coming from these amps, and maintain their impact. But Davis and Fielding have done a great job here. Revengeance has to be listened to on quality headphones or hi-fi speakers to fully appreciate the sheer weight of this record. 

Since their demo EP in 2007, the band have released two EPs, a masterful split with Chicago's Bongripper, two live albums (including their 2012 Roadburn set) and three LPs, and have shared stages with the likes of Neurosis, Sleep, Kylesa and Saint Vitus to name a few. Conan are about to embark on a US tour with Serial Hawk, and have lined up a string of festival performances in Europe, including Desertfest and Xtreme Fest.

Quietly going about their business, Conan have built a name for themselves in the UK’s doom underground scene. And with Revengeance they peer into the horizon deciding whom and what to conquer next. 

Website | Facebook

LP Review: Throneless - 'Throneless'

Sweden - a hot-bed of doom metal - have spawned another band determined to deliver monolithic slabs of heavy. Throneless, a 3-piece who hail from Malmö, are the latest signing by Italian imprint Heavy Psyche Sounds whose roster includes Black Rainbows, Karma To Burn & Ape Machine. Their self-titled debut recorded by the band themselves features 4 tracks of slow BPM, head-banging, down-tuned drones, that leaves you hypnotised and beaten into submission by the sheer power of their sound. 

Sonically, Throneless here sound fucking huge and you’d be mistaken to think this is a three guitar attack, with such dense, chewy fuzz and layered guitars. There’s a great organic ‘live' feel to the record too which puts you inside the room with the band, most probably alone, and in the dark... 

They’ve captured a real brooding menace that seeps its presence across every track, epitomised by the distant howls of the vocals. Like a long, dark, cold Scandinavian winter, there’s a gloomy shadow which casts long over this record. There are moments when I wanted to hear a bit more of the drop-out parts where the clean sounds build again to drown you in a huge wave of sound, but that’s a minor quibble. 

This is a solid debut which will earn Throneless fans into the likes of Ufomammut, Bongripper, Conan and Yob, and offers enough to suggest that they will explore new ground in the future for the genre. But it can’t get any heavier than this, can it...? 

Throneless are:

Johan Burman - drums

Johan Sundén - guitar

Patrik Sundberg - bass

Check them on Facebook | Bandcamp

LP Review - "Blood Eagle" by Conan

It has been nigh-on 2 years since Conan's first full length "Monnos" was released and in that time this 3 piece from Liverpool, UK, have caused major devastation across Europe and beyond, smashing down buildings and pummeling bodies to mush and leaving many battered but die hard fans in their bloody wake. "Monnos" is one heavy fucking album, as indeed is anything that Conan puts to record and their latest release "Blood Eagle" out on Napalm Records is no exception. In fact, Conan have managed to out heavy themselves with "Blood Eagle" to the point that I'm certain that if everyone in the world played this album at the same time, our planet would collapse in on herself and a black hole would form in her center and our galaxy and others nearby would fall into it. What lies on the other side of Conan's black hole? Probably just an infinite tone so very low that it makes even the oldest of the gods shit themselves.

So then "Blood Eagle" is such a pants shittingly heavy, universe breaking and god worrying album that it could be of great interest to the military forces of any warring country simply due to the destructive power of Conan's reality damaging riffs. In the wrong hands we would be absolutely truly fucked but thankfully, in Conan's very capable and very heavy hands, you not only manage to get away with a feeling of having had the holy living crap beaten out of you for 40+ minutes, you also come away filled with all the joys of existence and a satisfaction and relief in knowing that powerful psychopaths are unlikely to ever hear Conan and if they ever do we can only hope they would not understand their devastating potential.

Just like many of the most significant moments in our lives, we always remember where we were at the time, and hearing "Blood Eagle" for the first time has forever embedded into my memory a thickly fogged mountain that I stomped to bits in my imagination as those brute forced pounding Conan riffs entered my ears through headphones as I descended said mountain, shrouded in a thick blanket of shining white fog. The earth crumbled and cracked beneath my boots as I stomped my way down, driven on by Conan's wondrously low and slow riffs and booming, damaging drums whilst their called out, chanted vocals echoed through the dense fog like celtic warrior ghosts calling out for their lost battle axes.

I wisely grabbed the opportunity to hear Conan play live recently whilst they've been on tour in the UK. I stood up front for their entire set and was thoroughly pummeled into a doughy mass and I came away a dribbling mess with ears that rang for days after and a body that felt like it been beaten repeatedly for a prolonged period of time; but every planet imploding riff was savored and relished and I loved every single devastatingly crushing second of it.

Turn up loud and bear witness:

BANDCAMP // FACEBOOK // WEBSITE

LP Review "Estron" by Slomatics

 

Ireland's Slomatics have been around since 2004 and in that time they have put out numerous releases and have appeared on splits with the likes of Conan. Their fourth full length LP "Estron" shows that Belfast born Slomatics are easily as heavy as any of the heaviest bands you are ever likely to hear. Slomatics are bone breakingly low-end and have mastered the art of boiling their riffs down into simple yet extremely heavy weight drones that give a few nods to Torche/Floor in a rumbling earthquake of bomb strings.

The 7 tracks that make up "Estron" give you little time to catch your breath from the chest crushing freqs that are delivered in punishing waves of massive and explosive doom riffs, except that is for the 6th track "Red Dawn" which serves as a kind of retreat from the storm of pulverizing heaviness. That is not to say that every track on "Estron" is a relentless barrage of lowness as there are captivating moments of psychedelic droning atmospheres and experimental use of effects and synthesizers that show Slowmatics are about far more than just playing the biggest and heaviest riffs that 3 humans can possibly produce together without causing serious injury to themselves and anyone who is listening. "Estron" is very close to being dangerously heavy and this is at the core of Slomatics' sound but the futuristic psychedelic sound-scapes produced by these 3 Irishmen make this album one of the most enjoyable listening experiences so far this year.

BANDCAMP // FACEBOOK // WEBSITE

UPDATE!! Temples Festival line-up announcement.

Following the announcement that the mighty Neurosis are to be headlining the Saturday event, the fine folks at Temples Festival have recently announced more bands added to the line up for their first festival of heavy music to be held in the city of Bristol, UK in May 2014.

If you love heavy music in all its morphing and splintering genres then just one glance at the line up so far is sure to get your mouth watering. Doom, Conan, Moss, Blood Ceremony, Winterfylleth; with this level of bands added to the bill and another 30 more artists to be announced in October, Temples is sure going to shake Bristol, if not the whole of the UK, into tiny little pieces.

Tickets are on sale now.


     FACEBOOK // OFFICIAL WEBSITE

LP Review - Bongripper/Conan Split 12"

How low can low go? Ever since I first heard Electric Wizard's "Come My Fanatics" I thought that was it, heavy music could not get any heavier beyond that album. Then they released "Dopethrone" and the bar was lowered even more. Surely that was it? El Wiz pushed low as low as low could go. I was wrong though. I later discovered a band called Floor featuring Steve Brookes in his pre-Torche days on guitar. Floor put out an album featuring the heaviest tones I had heard put to record. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. The 'bomb drop tuning" as coined by Brookes proved that a player could down tune a guitar very very low indeed and so achieve a sound that physically rattles your guts. The low-end tone is more than just a listening experience, it is a physical sensation that seems to massage the listener's insides. Whenever I listen to extremely heavy music I have this sensation deep within in me that is more than physical. It is as if a portal opens within me and I am sucked within myself and plunged into the lowest fathoms of the sub-atomic universe.

With this release the low-end tone is taken to new extremes in a 12" that is sure to twist your guts and shake your bones and suck you into the abyss of pulverising weight. To celebrate their upcoming UK tour, American instrumental doom legends Bongripper team up with the UK's rapidly rising heroes of heavy Conan, for a split LP to be released on vinyl 22nd April from Holy Roar Records. And oh my, what heavy heavy (yep, heavy x2) soul crushing sounds are on offer here.

Conan's slice "Beheaded" is 17 minutes and 3 seconds of slow, low and nether-worldly doom metal. From the outset tribal drums drift upwards towards you from the silent depths that bring with them a mighty tone of ultra-low end that slams you full bodily leaving you prostrate in worship of the heavy. Huge droned out riffs pour forth in a tsunami of devastatingly crushing tones as shouted chanted vocals echo from deep below. Conan are the epitome of heavy as declared loud and proud in this slow paced monster of a galaxy devourer. The walls of my house are shaken with plaster falling from my ceiling and my intestines vibrate to the frequencies causing me to want to shit urgently. My brain cells rattle as I nod slowly along to the pounding drums that drive this track forward with each bass and guitar hit sounding even more heavy than the last. On it drones in thick waves of sludge and crunch while a buzzed and searing guitar lick adds to the deliberately drawn out affair on display. I am caught in a catatonic trance as I dribble spit onto my shirt and the sensations that whirl through me are a satisfying guttural massage, which Conan so graciously give in this veritable behemoth of a track.


The mighty Bongripper follow with "Zero Talent" which opens with a dark atmospheric ambient intro and the sound of a robotic mosquito buzzing through my head. There is an obvious electronic music influence in this prelude reminding me of an intro to some dark Drum and Bass tune, that is until the fucking immense weight of crushing riffs falls upon me and I am left prostrate for the second time in under 30 minutes. The riffs are delivered in that unmistakable Bongripper style with drums that bash out the huge and infectious riffs with pace changes that build the tension of extreme doom to a point where the track unleashes some frantic and urgent riffage that then plunges into crushingly down-tuned bomb drop tones. The ante is upped (or rather lowered) then as a huge wall of sound takes this track into even heavier dimensions. This is "off the hook", to use a popular yoot term, with a production that is just something out of this world, it being so damn heavy but still very clean in the mix.This track hearkens back to some of Bongrippers' earlier work but with an evolution in their sound that shows Bongripper are a band that are not afraid to push themselves forward.

I will be attending one of the shows of the Bongripper and Conan UK tour so look out for a review of that in the coming weeks.

BONGRIPPER / CONAN / HOLY ROAR RECORDS

EP Review: MOGHUL

Moghul hail from the very birth place of heavy metal itself, the bleak city of Birmingham that lies in the dark hearted center of the UK. 

This 4 piece consists of James Neuenhaus on vocals and guitar, Joseph Barber on vocals and guitar, Adam Wiseman on Bass and Tom Woods on vocals and drums. Having formed as recently as 2012, Moghul have quickly made a name for themselves playing on the same bill as more established bands such as Conan, Alunah, and Slab to name just a few.

This EP is their first offering with 2 tracks, Dead Empires and Hidden Hand and with its cover a black and white shot of an ancient cairn (I'm sure I know that particular stack of stones) and Hebrew lettering, you just know your in for some down tuned sonic goodness of the esoteric kind.
Both are deliciously heavy slices of sludgy and unmistakably British doom metal very much in the vein of Conan.

Track 1, Dead Empires begins with some simple opening heavy riffage and within a short time the heaviness is amped up by a second guitar adding weight and depth to the already thick sound. A soaring guitar lick adds a slaying and melancholic aire to their vibe before the vocals come with a loud call to the ancient gods of the riff, summoning even more heaviness. The track grinds on, low end seeping everywhere while another vocalist breaks up the chant with a growling incantation. The drums pound the earth causing sonic earthquakes that drive the track along at a steady and hypnotic pace, sending ripples throughout space.

Track 2, Hidden Hand starts off less heavy than its predecessor with its atmospheric and soft bass line, drifting melodic guitar tones and simple percussion building a maudlin and serious sound until the 1 minute 37 seconds mark when the track drops a thousand ton weight of low end sludge upon the listener. This is the stronger of the 2 tracks on this EP but it is just as hypnotic and crushing as the first, conjuring images of ancient druids stood on mountain tops shouting forbidden words at a blackening sky. The slow and plodding pace does not cause the track to feel too long and drawn out, broken up as it is by calmer moments, taking quick breaths before the sludge comes falling down again, increasing the heaviness with the weight of the universe behind it. The drums complement it all nicely, not being too complicated or all over the place, just nice and simple pounding rhythms that support the crushing low end frequencies.

This EP is a strong first effort from this British 4 piece and I predict good things to come for them if they push their sound forward. This is a band I would love to hear live as the sheer weight of their sound is enough to rattle anyones rib cage; a very pleasant sensation I'm sure you will agree.

The EP is now available from Devizes Records as a limited edition green vinyl pressing of only 80 copies or black vinyl with 110 copies here: www.ds.bigcartel.com

The EP can be downloaded in digital from the Moghul bandcamp at: http://moghul.bandcamp.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Moghuluk