Album Review

A few months ago, I found myself in a HMV, flicking through record after record.

My usual process of buying an album in-store either involves seeing a band I recognise, or seeing an awesome album cover, giving a song half a listen on Spotify then deciding if I should close the deal.

Páthos strayed from this convention. The cover stared into my soul. For the first time, I decided to go in completely blind. I was gonna risk wasting £30 on a piece of plastic I hated.

Can you blame me though? I mean – look at that cover. I’d put that on my wall!

The latest record by Conjurer is a culmination of doom, black, sludge, progressive and hardcore metal that creates something captivating.

The album, kicking off with the ominous sounding “It Dwells” features compellingly emotional riffing from the get-go.

Páthos’ musical density is a result of years of Conjurer mastering their craft from the basement they started in, to their first two albums paving the way for their latest and potentially greatest.

The album encompasses themes of fear, anxiety and battling inner demons with a visceral passion. This is done by buckling intentionally brutal screams with haunting, clean guitar twangs and pick scrapes in a way that is artistically moody and spectacular. Bringing in deathcore tropes such as blast beats and seating them with timid motifs seen in atmospheric metal not only adds to the emotion, it tugs at heart strings you didn’t even realise existed.

Páthos itself meaning ‘suffering’, ‘experience’, or ‘emotion’ equally in Greek, the title accompanies the music superfluously.

Not all of Páthos is written like this, however. Suffer Alone, the progressive and grindcore fusion provides for a great way to break up the album and set up the final Act. Tunes like In Your Wake have real attitude and weight which acts as a pendulum to swing the album in a more groovy and doomy light. This only adds to the force of this modern classic.

The experience closes out with the slow n’ sludgey Cracks in the Pyre that, admittedly, got me slow-dancing by myself in my room. This song is a perfect cultivation of the entire album and sums up what Páthos does best.

The record then closes with eerie noises of the instruments fading away into the abyss.

Páthos is not an album to be listened to, but one you must sit down to and experience; something people don’t do anywhere near enough. And I couldn’t be more happy with the purchase of this masterpiece.

I therefore give Páthos by Conjurer a well deserved “stop-reading-and-listen-to-it-already”/10!

Thanks for reading. Feel free to comment your opinions below! If you don’t have any opinions, tell me your favourite LED lightbulb manufacturer.

Introduction

XAVLEGBMAOFFFASSSSITIMIWOAMNDUTROABCWAPWAEIIPPOHFFFX. As their logo clearly states, this remarkable band are ‘Acidic Vaginal Liquid Explosion Generated By Mass Amounts Of Filthy Fecal Fisting And Sadistic Septic Syphilic Sodomy Inside The Infected Maggot Infested Womb Of A Molested Nun Dying Under The Roof Of A Burning Church While A Priest Watches And Ejaculates In Immense Perverse Pleasure Over His First Fresh Fetus’….

Well there goes all my space for the intro, so here’s the review:

The Review

Despite the name XAVLEGBMAOFFFASSSSITIMIWOAMNDUTROABCWAPWAEIIPPOHFFFX being tad long and having song names like “Bone Saw”, Gore is a treasury for some brilliant stuff.

The EP seems to try to do everything at once. Somehow though, it works. A melting pot for the talent of all six band members to add their own ocean-load of creativity to create something colourful. Such as how Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis somehow incorporates elements of slam, tech-death and even throws in a breakdown before a slow and moody mid-section.

The band’s brutal lyrics are enough to even make Cannibal Corpse jealous. If you can tell what they’re even saying, you’ll realise it’s perhaps a little edgy even by death metal standards. Speaking of lyrics, Core presents an impressive range in singing styles. Ranging from a heavy shout and deathly growls to full blown frog noises, no song goes without that irresistible tickle of intrigue. XAVLEGBMAOFFFASSSSITIMIWOAMNDUTROABCWAPWAEIIPPOHFFFX is mind blowing with the vocal talent on show. Standouts include the savagery of Bone Saw or the confusing/strangely mesmerising “poetry” in Dicks Out for Harambe. Yeah, it’s really called that.

Gore is more than enough to please your inner air-guitarist. The album is in company of awesome guitar work with killer riffs and deadly solos mixed in. It’s the meaningful moments in songs that make Gore more than just a “bit of fun”, and instead a genuinely good EP, which can be returned to for listen upon listen. The album contains djent and tech-death themes but also incorporates them with slam metal influences, which is something that has definitely been done before. Just not in the twisted way done in Gore.

Overall, this EP, like the band, can be summed up with one word. “How”. Or maybe, “somehow”. Because, being a mess, it’s an organised mess. Gore and XAVLEGBMAOFFFASSSSITIMIWOAMNDUTROABCWAPWAEIIPPOHFFFX is clearly a fun side project for the guys in the band – a place for them to throw in as many crazy ideas as possible and create some magic.

I rate this EP Absolutely Gore-ious/10

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Introduction

Following a controversial Catharsis, who knew what Machine Head would produce next. Two new members replacing two men who were with the band for over fourteen years. What the hell could they be producing next? Go back to groove metal? Or nu metal? Stay with thrash? More importantly, whatever they did, would it even be any good? Well with Of Kingdom and Crown, they come out of the gate swinging. Let us dive into it!

The Review Itself

First off we have the alluring Slaughter the Martyr. The slower start sets the tone of the dark rollercoaster before throwing you into the deep end, like your dad teaching you to swim. Ten minute songs can often risk being bloated and unnecessarily long. But once again this band prove that they could make a hundred-hour song and still make you yearn for more. Certainly a masterpiece of an opening, Slaughter… perfectly links with the turbocharged Choke on the Ashes of your Hate. Delivering ripping verses and monstrous chorus. It’s so fast it’s impossible to not admire the level of musicianship that went into such a song.

Become the Firestorm is a perfect example of where Machine Head could be going with the Legend Wacław “Vogg” Kiełtyka now in their ranks. Become the Firestorm is sure to slap on that ogre face you pull when you hear the most perfect music of your life. Its satisfying, memorable and unbelievably fast. This song needs a disclaimer that “possible side effects may include your face being torn off” with the sheer potency, power and force of it all.

Next, is a surprise to be sure, but a welcome one. Overdose, the first interlude of the record. As a way of linking the parts of this concept album together, its was a fascinating turn for the album to take. Brilliantly setting the dark tone for….

My Hands are Empty has a level of dexterity I’ve never experienced on any song ever before. It blends a nothing less than beautiful chorus with an epic verse, which is a new level of unhinged with rip-roaring lyrics that had me DANCING. As a bonus, the slower lyrics of this song makes it an absolutely perfect song to deafen your friends with for karaoke.

Of Kingdom and Crown slows down and takes a fresh approach for the unique Unhallowed. Featuring a heartfelt melody with an even more gripping chorus and breakdown that reinvigorates your “this music is awesome” ogre face. This track lets you reconnect with the album and prepare for the beastly second half…

Unhallowed was the last single to be released before the album, so everything after this moment was unknown. But my god did it exceed expectations. Throwing you right back into the pit is Kill Thy Enemies featuring perhaps the most crushing riff since Davidian. The most brutal and punchy song on the record, it carries a weight and energy that demands turning the volume up till the dial breaks. Need I say more?

Following the immolation of Kill The Enemies is No Gods No Masters. Grand and striking, hearing it live would fill up an arena beautifully. Luckily, I am speaking from experience here. I had the pleasure of hearing Machine Head play this song live in Nottingham 2022. The catchiness of No Gods No Masters, with its woa-ahs and stretched out “Nooo Gooddss, Nooo Maasstteerrss” made it the perfect choice to play live.

Literally anything could have followed No Gods No Masters. But what does, is an absolutely wild duo of the most C R U N C H Y songs I have ever heard. First off is Bloodshot. A perfect blend between the gorgeous simplicity of older MH groove with the madness of the thrash that followed it. Then of course, is Rotten, which can be described similarly, but with more old school Machine Head that gets your head banging so hard it is guaranteed to break your neck.

Of Kingdom and Crown concludes with the magnificent Arrows in Words from the Sky. The opening, blooming like a flower, immediately informs you this is a different type of song. More sincere and “from the heart” than the other songs on this record, the song is an embodiment of “light at the end of the tunnel” as the triumphant album reaches its ardent conclusion.

Conclusion

If you hadn’t guessed already, I believe Of Kingdom and Crown is an absolute masterpiece. It is one of the most cinematic records I have ever listened to with outstanding recording quality and unmatched musicianship. There is no doubt I will be coming back to it for months, perhaps years into the future.

I rate this album a “stop-reading-already-and-listen-to-it”/10

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