Konvent: Call Down The Sun

Konvent are a Danish death doom act. Their debut album, Puritan Masochism, was released in 2020 to a groundswell of support. Subsequently they’ve harnessed the momentum from their debut and wasted no time in writing & recording their 2nd album Call Down The Sun, which was recently released via Napalm Records.

The album gets underway with the track ‘Into the Distance’ which is a great track and sounds to my ears like a particularly satisfying merging of the slowest and heaviest riffs from heavy doom bands such as Conan, and absolutely brutal vocals in the vein of seminal death metal acts like Cannibal Corpse. That merging of Doom and Death Metal is relatively consistent throughout, and admittedly not all that surprising given the band’s Death Doom tag!

Konvent are a 4 piece with a sole guitarist but that doesn’t stop them from creating a particularly gargantuan sound - Sara Helena Nørregaard’s guitars coupled with the rhythm section of Heidi Withington Brink (Bass) and Julie Simonsen (Drums) create a sound that could level small villages. It’s captured particularly well on this release too -I don’t usually talk about the production this early in a review, but I love the way the album sounds. Konvent sound like a band playing the songs together on this album-admittedly this is a strange thing to say, but it isn’t always the case in this day and age. I also love the choice of guitar and bass tones on this album. They have opted for an almost retro, fuzzed out Doom metal sound for a lot of the release, and subsequently the album has more of an organic soul than it would have had otherwise.

The vocals from Rikke Emilie List provide a real highlight and often switch from the deep guttural style to a more high-pitched almost black metal style which provides some variation across the album. It must be said, I’d be ok with Rikke sticking with the low Guttural style, as there is something almost hypnotic and trance inducing in the way her lower register vocals and the doomy riffs blend together. Perhaps there is no better example of this than on the track ‘Never Rest’ which has a simple yet addictive riff- the track has an almost mediative effect on me, similar to the vibe I get from some of Sun 0)))’s works. The album’s closing track ‘Harena’ is particularly notable and probably my pick for the best on the album - its crushing at times but contains some glimmers of melody which elevate the track to a place beyond the mere sonic oppression that is favoured on a lot of the album. I feel as though the band knew they had something special with this track as it has some string arrangements and guitar leads which help ensure that their more epic vision for the track was realised. It’s a fitting and satisfying conclusion to a very strong release.

Well executed death doom scratches a particular itch for me -perhaps there’s something about the slow tempos that touches on something at a primal level, or perhaps I just really enjoy this style when it is done well. Whatever the case Konvent’s new album Call Down The Sun immediately demands repeat listens from me which is always a sign of a quality release.

Track List

1. Into the Distance
2. Sand is King
3. In the Soot
4. Grains
5. Fanamorgana
6. Interlude
7. Never Rest
8. Pipe Dreams
9. Harena

Added: May 24th 2022
Reviewer: Chris Reid
Score:
Related Link: Band Facebook Page
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Language: english

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