Conan: Existential Void Guardian (2018)

Presumably Conan is named after the barbarian played by Arnold Schwarzenegger and less popularly by Jason Momoa in movies based on a character created by Robert E. Howard, and not the red-headed late night television host.  I am not sure what a band named after Conan O'Brien should sound like (probably not a metal band I suspect), but I do know what a band named after Conan the Barbarian should sound like.  And quite frankly, Conan (the band) absolutely delivers.

Conan's sound is a combination of sludge metal and stoner doom metal, two styles not frequently associated with the U.K.  These are two much more typically American styles, so it is somewhat odd finding a band from the U.K. playing these styles of metal, much less combining them into such a seemless and powerful sound.

The riffs are massive and mostly slower-paced.  The songs lumber along like a behemoth, only occasionally speeding up to a mid-paced gallop.  But the monolithic power of the riffs is ever-present.  But what is odd is that despite how slowly most of the songs are played, they are not terribly long.  The entire album is under 40 minutes in length.  And the songs are also for the most part very catchy. 

If there is a downside to the album, it is the vocals.  The vocals seem a little bit strained and are mostly delivered in a harsh yell.  They fit the music fairly well, but can become a little grating at times.

Conan has been around for some time at this point.  This is their fourth full-length, though it is the first one I have heard.  There are definitely times when this type of metal really speaks to me, and so it is likely that this will enter regular rotation, alongside groups like The Gates of Slumber and Trouble.