Conan - Monnos

After a few delays awaiting Conan's debut full length 'Monnos' to finally land in my hands, now I have been able to hear what has turned out to be one of the most crushing and destructive doom albums this year. Wait, not one of.. THE most crushing and destructive doom album I have heard this year so far.

Imagine standing on a rocky mountain overlooking the desert. Suddenly everything begins shaking. The Earth is rumbling like mad. The edge of the cliff breaks off and you fall down with it and the whole rocky mountain begins to crumble and crushes absolutely everything down below. Of course this description has nothing to do with what this album is about as it is all themed around battles and weapons, but perhaps this Earth crumbling moment is making way for an open battle ground for great warriors to fight it off in a battle much more chaotic and destructive than the earthquake that just took place before them.

These riffs are so thick. So deep! They crush everything in its path! A wall of crushing noise. And the way these riffs tread. It is not a slow pace like you might except for something as crushing. It marches along.. like the warriors are in one line marching towards their opponents, carrying their swords and axes and their thick boots are making deep prints into the desert ground.

But it is not just the riffs.. The bass is so heavy as it nods along with the riffs. Same for the drums. They all crush in the same moment with one another which would just leave a gigantic crater in anything! I mean, those beats just hammer through that noise in front of them. They feel like they lead the way a lot in this album. Listen to 'Hawk As A Weapon' to see what I mean. When things slow down and become softer (eg: 'Golden Axe'), it is almost as if this signifies the end of the battle. Who has claimed the sacred golden axe?

No one as the 'Headless Hunter' appears swinging his hammer and bludgeoning the warriors to death and continuing to beat them down even after they lay lifeless on the bloody floor. When the riffs begin to drone out, it is him standing with one foot on his dead opponents and he holds up his hammer in ultimate triumph before he gallops away into the sunset to now claim the 'Invincible Throne'.

And thus the final song is when things really slow down and drone out, as if slowly panning a view from above over the desert grounds and all the bodies that lay crushed from the battle. Like all the songs on here, what they 'lack' in variation, they make up for in the way they crush along and that is what captivates you with 'Monnos'.

I really like the dual vocal assault on 'Monnos' too. The blend of the deep bellowing yell with the higher one just makes this feel so powerful. Quite emotive and even epic. Almost like commanding chants and battle cries as the war commences. There are not many lyrics in the songs but the fitting thing with this is that each word they breathe is filled with equal feel. So much force.

I was expecting 'Monnos' to be a much longer album as the EP 'Horseback Battle Hammer' is 33 minutes long and this album is just under 40 minutes which seemed like it might be a bit too short. In the end, it is fine and fitting. I don't think they could have crushed your skull anymore due to how heavy this thing is.

Overall, I have been waiting for 'that' doom album to arrive this year. That one where you sit down with your mates and say 'Oh, how fucking good is that album?'. As of this moment, 'Monnos' is that doom album that is invincible to all the other doom albums I have come across this year, and the way it is going, will surely claim the throne to this years most crushing assault. Yes, the word of the day is 'Crushing'.

Ikil