Conan – Blood Eagle
22nd February 2014Am the Stylin’, Profilin’,
Limousine riding,
Jet Flying,
Kiss Stealing,
Metal review writin’,
Son of a gun!
WOOOO…!!!
Anyway next up is the hotly anticipated 3rd release from Liverpool’s doom merchants CONAN with their album ‘Blood Eagle‘. I don’t follow doom metal (or sludge metal) so wasn’t expecting this release, however after a quick look on the Internet CONAN caused quite a stir with their previous releases and thunderous live shows! Napalm Records snapped them up and are going to release ‘Blood Eagle‘ upon a largely un-expecting public! Blood Eagle is when you would execute a prisoner by pulling their ribs through there spine so they looked like blood stained wings and then pull the lungs out via the wounds on their back…mmm lovely!
This is 6 tracks and 44 minutes of low end distorted heavy as a bronzed elephants balls doom. The bass and guitar rumbles and pounds the life out of the listener with its simple but highly addictive and effective slabs of riffs. CONAN create music that will start off as a single note or riff but will grow and grow into a sludge thick sonic barrier that doesn’t know when to stop even when all have been succumbed to its barrage of noise. Special mention to the drummer who pulls all the low bowel moving bass and guitar dirge together with his sharp, tight battering. Some bands of this genre would have preferred the drums to be loud, heavy and low like the riffs but this sound compliments them instead. A downside is the vocals are a little low in the mix, some might say this is how they were meant to be? (maybe on previous releases, but I don’t know as I’ve not heard them) You could argue that the vocals sound like the battle cries on a field of war and the music is the sound of the battlefield, however that’s just my opinion.
If you love Doom or Sludge then you will undoubtably have found a new favourite band as CONAN (like there namesake) destroy everything in their path. However I must admit I prefer my doom with a little more rock thrown in (like label mates VENOMOUS MAXIMUS), however that aside this album is heavy and rumbles through your speakers/headphones to abolish everything in its path. Some people will hate the sludgeyness of this release and the way everything slowly pulverize you instead of a frenzied short sharp attack to your senses, am also certain the vocals will put others off as well. But bands can’t please everyone with their releases and CONAN just don’t seem to care what you think while the ride along into battle…
SCORE – 7
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ALBUM INFO
1… Crown of Talons
2… Total Conquest
3… Foehammer
4… Gravity Chasm
5… Horns For Teeth
6… Altar of Grief
LABEL
Napalm Records
EU RELEASE DATE
28th February 2014
US RELEASE DATE
11th March 2014
