“I’m gone. I no longer exist.”
Sadness can often act as the foundation on which many human emotions build themselves up. Whether it be anger, restlessness, fear, or anything of the like, these negative feelings all have the same source: sadness. On their sophomore effort, aptly titled Páthos, UK-based death-doom quartet Conjurer aim to sonically explore sadness and all that comes with it, whilst simultaneously expanding their sound.
Expressing emotion through music is by and large the best way to create something truly captivating, and Conjurer accomplish this with overwhelming success and obvious passion, creating an all-encompassing atmosphere that is absolutely stunning. Sprawling soundscapes are exerted by colourful textures of guitar and ambience; chunky guitar riffs are expertly counteracted by unsettling dissonance; passionate vocal performance express unyielding emotion in the rawest of forms. Every individual element of this record comes together to create a sound that envelops the listener in melancholy and despair. Conjurer‘s use of this melancholic atmosphere boosts this record from your typical doom metal outing into something special and unique, making the atmosphere the record’s defining feature.
Opening track “It Dwells” is the perfect introduction to bring the listener into the experience that is Páthos. Beginning with a clean guitar passage which is absolutely dripping in ambience, Conjurer gives the listener little time to get comfortable before exploding into an onslaught of unpredictable guitarwork and bombastic drumming. From there, the track follows no particular path yet somehow has an astounding amount of cohesion. Transitioning from pummelling death metal riffage into gorgeous clean sections in the blink of an eye, the track truly feels like a journey from start to finish. Consistently engaging the listener with new melodies and grooves, a motif is officially set in stone which will become apparent in every track on this 9-track affair: a sense of adventure. Every song on this album feels like its own mini story, akin to chapters in a book. Whilst being varied in tone and expression, these tracks all still feel connected in a way that shines a new light on the album. It feels as though the band is telling a horrific narrative in sonic form to express the emotion that is the backbone of the record.
The variety of soundscapes and tones presented on this album is nothing short of amazing. This is shown immediately in the two tracks following “It Dwells“: “Rot” and “All You Will Remember“. “Rot” is a ghastly track, drenched in feelings of unease and horror. Listening to the track feels like you’re trapped in a haunted house being harassed by poltergeists; unsettling ambience is coupled with dissonant guitarwork, never repeating, and never letting the listener breathe. Sinister guitar leads, both clean and distorted, sit atop sludgy grooves, adding a sufficient amount of weight to an already dense track. The vocals throughout are consistently restless and disturbed, fitting the unnerving vibe created by the instrumentals. The track culminates in a colossal breakdown, retaining the unsettling nature of the rest of the track through untimely pick scrapes, spooky ambient textures, and agitated vocals. Following this bombardment of chilling unease comes the most doom-y and melancholic track on the album, uncontested standout “All You Will Remember“. To put it plainly, this track is gorgeous. Whereas “Rot“ feels ghastly and horrifying, “All You Will Remember“ is haunting and emotive. Grand, spacious, and downright depressing, it suspends the listener in the air and leaves them floating throughout its entire duration. Somber clean vocals are done with passion atop huge doom-y riffs, layered with beautiful clean guitar passages and heavenly ambience. All of this is only a warm-up for the stunning emotional climax; a beautiful spoken-word passage builds tension, only for the track to explode into a black metal onslaught that is simply jaw-dropping. Seriously, what a track.
Also worth mentioning is track 6, “Suffer Alone“. A definite outlier from the rest of the album in terms of execution, the track is a two-and-a-half minute rager that attacks the listener with frantic guitarwork, blasts of double-bass, aggressive vocals, and barrages of blast beats. Packed with fury and energy, it is a great way for Conjurer to break up the pace of the album—as every other track ranges from five to eight minutes in length—and it will be a particular standout in a live setting. Despite being structurally different from the rest of the album, it in no way feels disconnected. Melodic guitar leads are still very present in all the madness, particularly in the form of blackened tremolo riffs. Elements like these keep it from feeling forced or unfitting, and it subsequently still feels like a vital part of the narrative being told.
Musically, the variety on this album is awe-inspiring. The songwriting is adventurous and well-crafted, bringing many different genres to the world that is Páthos, each building upon the death-doom foundation which the band has already mastered. Black metal elements are sprinkled throughout the record, particularly in the middle portions of the especially dismal “Those Years“, “Condemned“, and the bombastic finale of “All You Will Remember“. Pummelling death metal sections can be found in the record’s most aggressive and angry moments, with “Basilisk“ featuring some downright dirty grooves backed by marching double bass. The use of acoustic and clean guitar that is ever-present throughout the entire record evokes European folk music vibes, a perfect example being the peaceful opening moments of morose closer “Cracks in the Pyre“. Even the core fans will be pleased with the presence of a couple apocalyptic breakdowns; if this record were to get enough attention from that community, it would be unsurprising to see the hulking ending of “Basilisk” appear in breakdown compilations at the end of the year. Lastly, despite not being extremely progressive in terms of sound, the adventurous and unpredictable nature of each track has an undeniable progressive energy, demonstrated particularly by “In Your Wake“. Simply put, Conjurer has mastered every genre they have added to their repertoire, and expertly applied each to enhance the record’s atmosphere.
Each member of the band performs their part perfectly here, but particular credit must be given to guitarists (and vocalists!) Dan Nightingale and Brady Deeprose. To put it mildly, the guitarwork on this album is brilliant. The riffs are immense and gloomy, the lead work adds a lot of melody and helps create the huge atmospheres, and most of all, the clean and acoustic guitar layers are magnificent; while much of the soundscape can be derived from the ambience, the bulk of it comes from the layers of arpeggiated clean guitar passages overtop the hefty riffage which forms the base of the sound. Both deserve a fucking award for what they have done here. The pair’s vocals are great as well; they understand that the vocals do not need to be a focal point on this record, and thus simply serve as a part of the whole picture. That is not to downplay the performances by drummer Noah See or bassist Conor Marshall, who both admirably fulfil their roles. The drumwork is always fitting with the vibes of the music and is particularly fun at its more ferocious moments. The bass, while buried in the back for the majority of the album, shines through when it needs to, particularly in the clean sections. On a production level, everything sounds perfect. Guitars are thick and audible, the drums are punchy but not overbearing, the bass pops through when it needs to, and the ambience sits perfectly atop everything else. All of this should come as no surprise seeing as Will Putney is responsible for the mix and mastering. Each party involved in the creation of Páthos was obviously passionate about their contribution, which allows the record to shine even brighter.
Closing track “Cracks in the Pyre” is a mournful end to a spectacular record. Opening with a folk-like clean guitar passage layered with low, dissonant clean vocals, the track eases the listener in before moving into its doom-y main portion with a beautifully melancholic chord progression. Stylistically, the track is nothing new, but it is particularly dreadful and dark, with many nuances that make it a phenomenal closer. Closers in metal are typically expected to be epic and huge; “Cracks in the Pyre” is neither of those, nor does it aim to be. In many ways, it feels like a sister-track to opener “It Dwells“. However, instead of aiming to demonstrate the music at its most adventurous and exciting, it focuses on the gloom and emotion, without ever losing its edge or becoming boring. The final chapter ends with subtle ambience that connects with the beginning of “It Dwells“, truly bookending the record by placing the listener right back where they started fifty-two minutes earlier. Nuances such as this define this track and make it a standout on an already packed record.
In terms of negatives, the record is nearly flawless. The extended runtimes found in the majority of these tracks can be a bit grating, particularly on initial listens, but it is nothing too offensive and becomes unnoticeable once the listener is engaged in the atmosphere. The album can also become a bit repetitive if you were to really examine each track, as the group obviously likes their clean guitar passages in the openings and middle portions of the tracks. However, these are minor details which are rather nitpicky. As a whole, the album accomplishes everything it wants to.
With Páthos, Conjurer have created an album that exudes energy of a beautiful narrative being told in musical form, a narrative which explores sadness and all that comes with it. Whether it be the desperation in the most dissonant sections of tracks like “In Your Wake“, the anger that comes with the fury of tracks such as “Suffer Alone“, or the fear that comes with the ghastly and unsettling “Rot“, no feeling is left unexplored. Páthos is a stunning exploration of melancholy that is captivating on both a musical and emotional level, propelling Conjurer to the top of the extreme metal scene.
8.5/10
Páthos will be released this Friday, July 1st, via Nuclear Blast, and you can pre-order it here.