England’s doom metal barbarians CONAN are back with a new album called Evidence of Immortality. Scheduled for release on August 19 by Napalm Records, this album is sonically dense, diverse, and impressive. Conan is Jon Davis (guitar/vocals), Chris Fielding (bass/vocals), and Johnny King (drums). The album is produced by Chris Fielding with mastering by James Plotkin. Evidence of Immortality artwork is created by Tony Roberts.
Evidence of Immortality opens with “A Cleaved Head No Longer Plots”. Feedback giving way to thunder sets the noose of tension The rolling drums create the visualization of heads rolling away from the chopping block. The rumbling bass and guitars tuned to primordial depths create the illusion of speaker cabinets quaking beneath each massive chord.
Dig the flanged guitar feedback as the throbbing bass lumbers with menacing tension. The harmonized riffs in the last third of this song add a gothic vibe into the mix. The end of the song with its cascading drums returns to the imagery of rolling skulls.
The song “Levitation Hoax” uses thundering uptempo drums and accompanying riffs to suggest a rampaging horde. The call and response vocals amplify the raw intensity. Spacey and somewhat psychotic dissonant notes droning in echo over the sludgy slower riff give this song a twisted edge.
The thick and swirling riffs at the beginning of “Ritual of Anonymity” induce the feeling of some mythic and monstrous beast approaching. The quick-paced punk riffs and screaming vocals add a hardcore element to the murky depths of the main riff. I love how it ends with an unsettling dissonant chord.
Unfathomable depths are dredged in the opening riffs of “Equilibrium Of Mankind” as the fuzz is unfurled in all its resounding fury. Closing your eyes you can imagine a man with fists raised yelling into the oncoming holocaust. Eyes blazing, he screams in defiance of coming death. As the fires consume his flesh, the hate lives on.
“Righteous Alliance” kicks off with a mid-tempo march of harnessed aggression. There is relentless energy as the bass punches underneath the wall of roaring guitars. The slower tempo riffs swirl and shake like the head of a gargantuan as it tears into another victim. The bass riffs devolving into spiraling feedback give way to a funeral dirge as the pacing slows into geologic time. The heaviness here is visceral.
The most cinematic and evocative song on Evidence of Immortality is the final cut called “Grief Sequence”. This is the music one would imagine hearing as the James Webb telescope reveals image after image of the staggering beauty and immensity of space. The roaring chords and thunderclap of drums layered with the droning synth (played by Dave Perry) convey unimaginable vastness. This song showcases our insignificance. It is brilliant.
Evidence of Immortality by CONAN is a pulverizing doom metal record. Brimming with mammoth riffs, CONAN creates songs that resonate with the core of your soul. Using the tools of pummeling drums, megalithic bass, tremendous guitars, and enraged vocals construct works that roar into the infinite void.