Metal Storm logo
Conan - Revengeance review




Bandcamp music player
Reviewer:
7.2

38 users:
7.61
Band: Conan
Album: Revengeance
Release date: January 2016


01. Throne Of Fire
02. Thunderhoof
03. Wrath Gauntlet
04. Revengeance
05. Every Man Is An Enemy
06. Earthenguard

Conan are one of those bands, much like Primitive Man and Leviathan, whose name simply couldn't possibly go better with the type of music they play. We all know that Conan isn't a pussy. He's a hulking Behemoth of a warrior who knows that battle prowess is a true measure of a man. And much like their namesake, the Brits in Conan do not see any need to deal in excessive technicalities. They're colossal, they're brutish, and all they want is to rattle our bones, which they're doing once again on Revengeance.

Nothing is really all that new with Conan this third time around. On Revengeance, listeners are essentially treated to the same brand of thick, heavy-as-a-hurricane riffage, pulsating drums, and the monotone-type vocals of Jon Davis that the band has been employing since day 1. The latter always somehow work more effectively than one might think: while Davis's vocals seemingly know little of the concepts of melody and harmony, the overall weight and simplicity of Conan's music somehow makes such concepts rather unwelcome, and Davis's approach is thus an ideal fit (see "Every Man Is An Enemy" especially).

What is slightly new about Revengeance, however, is the greater variation in tempo that Conan are working with here. Notably on "Throne Of Fire" and the title track, we see the band picking up the pace a bit with a more upbeat, head-bobbing, almost sludgey type of approach. And, I would argue, it's ultimately this formula that works much, much better for them. While the band have a certain hook and catchiness to them no matter what tempo they're playing in, this mood can tend to be lost with their slower tracks, and some of the longer ones, such as "Wrath Gauntlet," can thus give the impression of just dragging on and on. With a bit of a faster speed, however, the band are somehow able to make their music much catchier and more memorable, and it leaves a greater lasting impression, perhaps because more shifts in tempo give listeners a tad more to focus on and absorb. That is, we're not really as stuck in one place with the band as we might've been before.

Three full albums into their career now, Conan have certainly proven that while they don't rank too high on the originality scale, they're a "less is more" type of band who know how to make a lot work with very little. While the band still stick to a mostly slow-to-midtempo doomy core on Revengeance, the album also drops a few hints at a potential evolution of sound for Conan, and while I personally wish that the faster moments I mentioned had been in a bit of a greater abundance here, these guys should at the very least still be applauded for trying something new. Overall, this is still the great Conan sound that people have come to know and enjoy, albeit with a few minor changes that could yield interesting new results for the band if refined more in the future.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 7
Songwriting: 8
Originality: 6
Production: 7





Written on 16.02.2016 by Metal Storm’s own Babalao. Comforting the disturbed and disturbing the comfortable since 2013.


Comments

Comments: 6   Visited by: 177 users
16.02.2016 - 20:37
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted


Still need to see these guys live. I imagine it would be heavy.
Loading...
16.02.2016 - 20:38
Auntie Sahar
Drone Empress
Written by Guest on 16.02.2016 at 20:37

Still need to see these guys live. I imagine it would be heavy.

They're pretty damn good, I would say, much better than on album. At Roadburn 2014 during their set it almost felt like I was getting a body high because their bass was so loud the vibration was making my skin tingle
----
I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go.

~ II. VII
Loading...
16.02.2016 - 20:47
!J.O.O.E.!
Account deleted
Written by Auntie Sahar on 16.02.2016 at 20:38

They're pretty damn good, I would say, much better than on album. At Roadburn 2014 during their set it almost felt like I was getting a body high because their bass was so loud the vibration was making my skin tingle

That sounds like my kind of set up. They actually played in my town, and I don't think I even had a good excuse for missing them. Next time.
Loading...
16.02.2016 - 20:58
Marcel Hubregtse
Grumpy Old Fuck
Deleted the previous comments before Joe's due to them being non-related to the album and band.
----
Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal

Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight
Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.)
05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996

Loading...
16.02.2016 - 21:03
Auntie Sahar
Drone Empress
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 16.02.2016 at 20:58

Deleted the previous comments before Joe's due to them being non-related to the album and band.

Boss Marcel to the rescue
----
I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go.

~ II. VII
Loading...
16.02.2016 - 21:11
BloodTears
ANA-thema
This album sounds neat from what I've heard so far. Still need some time to dig into it.
----
Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29

Like you could kiss my ass.


My Instagram
Loading...

Hits total: 6110 | This month: 12