Album Review: Konvent - Call Down The Sun
Reviewed by Paul Hutchings
Hail Mary, mother of God. If this is what goes on behind the walls at the Nunnery, then no wonder the Church is annoyed. The Danish four-piece who levelled many a room with their 2020 debut release ‘Puritan Masochism’ have regrouped in the darkness and present another dose of bludgeoning darkened doom which will have the head banging and the body swaying rhythmically in no time.
The mood is black, from the thunderous riffs and tolling bell that commence this service on ‘Into the Distance’. The unholy roar of Rikke Emile List is earth shaking, as if some creature, possessed by inhuman beings is emerging from its slumber, pissed off and angry. The riffs fall like felled trees, guitarist Sara Helena Nørregaard keeping it simple but efficient whilst the thick, rhythmic poundings of bassist Heidi Withington Brink and drummer Julie Simonsen hammer the senses.
This is an album to wake the dead, shake the foundations of buildings and cause neckache across the globe. It’s punishingly heavy, dark themes combining with relentless walls of riffs. “There will be no peace” commands a sinister voice before Konvent unleash the punishing battery of ‘Sand is King’. A bruising cacophony which draws on the band’s roots. There is post metal, black metal and death metal as well as doom in this heady mix.
If an uncompromising barrage that assaults the senses is your bag, then Konvent should appeal. There may be limited variation on ‘Call Down the Sun’, but there are subtle variations which distinguish each track. ‘Grains’ is a hammering beating, whilst the throbbing bass intro to ‘Fatamorgana’ unveils gargantuan riffs, crashing percussion and a funeral paced march which crushes with slabs of sheer heaviness.
The promise of respite in the shape of ‘Interlude’ is soon shattered for it is a merely a mirage, transpiring to be a two-minute instrumental which also overwhelms. It leads to more discomfort in the song ‘Never Rest’, a deeply disturbing piece with strangulated vocals that sound horrific. This leads to the final two songs, and Konvent somehow maintain the doom levels to maximum. The shorter but no less aggressive ‘Pipe Dreams’ with its repetitive riff that grinds away at the cranium, and the slightly lighter feel of ‘Harena’, which eases back on the suffocating distortion but not the intense tension.
This isn’t an album that will be for everyone. It’s weighty, dark, and full of doom laden riffage that will split stone walls. A sonic soundscape that is bleak, harrowing and unremittingly heavy. You should be able to tell from that description if its for you. If it is, I recommend a neck brace on standby. Just in case.
