Conjurer: Páthos

British extreme metal act Conjurer released their sophomore album Páthos back in July via Nuclear Blast. I enjoy this album but it’s a bit of an enigma. I’ve found it more difficult than usual to articulate why it’s a decent listen, primarily because it’s such a hard album to pigeonhole from a subgenre perspective.

The Midlands quartet open the album with 'It Dwells' which in many ways serves as a general touch point for the album. It’s extreme metal for sure, but its difficult to narrow down the subgenre too much further than that - Post metal, Sludge, death, doom, black metal and hardcore all raise a hand and yell ‘pick me’ at various stages which makes the track and album intriguing listening. The Ocean is probably the best stylistic comparison (in terms of well known bands) that I can come up with for the music on Pathos.

Pathos contains a varied array of vocal delivery, melodic moments, riffy sections, tranquil meanderings along with sections of out and out aggression and brutality. The musical ideas that get me most excited are the moments in which the band merge melodic motifs into their heavy riffing. I wouldn’t necessarily call the album progressive metal, but there are plenty of stylistic twists and turns and the album is quite a demanding listen. There is a cerebral quality to what Conjurer are doing with this album.

Despite the variation in sound and style across the individual songs and album, I wouldn’t call this a scatter gun release either. The musicianship and overall intensity across the album are able to provide a cohesive link between the many sounds employed by the band to get their point across. There’s no doubt that this is a very mature release for a bands sophomore album and I can see why they’re on a major label like Nuclear Blast.

Track List
1. It Dwells
2. Rot
3. All You Will Remember
4. Basilisk
5. Those Years, Condemned
6. Suffer Alone
7. In Your Wake
8. Cracks In The Pyre

Added: November 3rd 2022
Reviewer: Chris Reid
Score:
Related Link: Band @ Bandcamp
Hits: 1015
Language: english

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