Album Review: Konkhra - Sad Plight Of Lucifer
Reviewed by Sam Jones
Arguably amongst Denmark’s underrated finest, Konkhra are one of the nation’s oldest and longest running extreme metal acts; though the country is seeing a huge surge in extreme metal right now, it were bands such as Konkhra who put Denmark on the map in the first place. Formed way back in 1988 out of Copenhagen, The band established themselves as Konkhra two years later where they quickly released a barrage of smaller works like their 1991 Malgrowth Demo, their 1992 Stranded EP, before unveiling their debut full length work: Sexual Affective Disorder, unleashed in 1993. If you were to query many an older fan as per the band’s best, classic material they’d likely pick out that record. But the band have always been churning out records and EPs from day one as Konkhra slowly approach that illustrious fortieth anniversary. Whilst they released their 2009 record Nothing Is Sacred. it would be another ten years before they finally returned with a follow up. Fans rejoiced to see Konkhra release Alpha And The Omega, one album that I especially enjoyed back in 2019. Now, four years later, the band grace us for with a new album for the eighth time, Sad Plight Of Lucifer, slated for a November 29th release date. The band also continue their partnership with Hammerheart records who took charge of distributing their last record too. This was one album I knew I needed to check out upon its eventual release and thus that is where we are now.
I’ve enjoyed how an increasing number of old school bands are utilising modern production quality to its full advantage. With Sad Plight Of Lucifer, Konkhra give their sound a beefier, firm soundscape by which the audience knows they’ll be thoroughly submerged in. When one listens to Konkhra play it’s to have every avenue of escape welded shut so once you’re within the record, the only way is out, either by your own choice (but why would you when the death metal is this good) or by the record’s end. Curiously however, Konkhra gift us with a solid soundscape that immerses us into their performance but their actual instrumentation isn’t overly crushing. Whilst the band are looking to envelop us completely it isn’t at the cost of lessening the experience we have at digesting what’s going on. Their riffs and soloing and vocals etc come at us with the ferocity of a barroom brawl, however the intensity wanes and rises pending on what the songwriting dictates. You’ll feel the weight of their presence but they’re not here to suffocate you so completely.
This ties in to the band’s relationship with speed. Given that people will be tuning in to a Knonkhra album, a Danish death metal work, the audience knows what they’re letting themselves in for. But it’s interesting that the band place such reservations upon themselves, as if wishing to not get carried away. Of the numerous albums released by old school bands this year, Knonkhra’s newest opus certainly sounds the most focused and mature not because the band are employing themes and ideas their counterparts have forsook, but how Konkhra keep their sound upon the straight and narrow whilst still delivering the rampant fury, though tempered by time, upon our senses. The band’s performance is evidently bristling with a high-octane energy but you never feel like that tenacity, that adrenaline, is ever at risk of leaving you behind. Your mind is more than capable of processing every note and turn and weave their songwriting throws at you, in turn enabling the audience to fall deeper into concentration with what they have lined up.
The clarity of the band’s performance enables the smaller minutiae potentially missed in muddier soundscapes to reach our ears with less difficulty. I know some will always be amiss to hear a cleaner and more polished style on death metal records, but if it enables older bands to convey the fullest tumult their sound possesses then I’m all for it. In this instance the polished aesthetic lets their drums truly hit us over the head; there aren’t any blast beats to discover within, nothing too extreme whatsoever. However the drumming performance is given a wonderfully spotlighted vantage by which everyone who visits this record can look upon this record and know the drums did precisely the task they were assigned. I especially enjoyed how the bass drums were more than present and elevated the songwriting to more ferocious heights, yet they did not attempt to overtake the band as a whole. Often bass drums in particular can have a habit of dominating a record’s soundscape but Konkhra nicely did not fall for this trap and, with the mixing across the record, the drums aid the band in binding the rest of the instrumentation together into a neat, organised line by which we digest this album. If anything, it’s the drums acting like a sonic umbrella that keeps everything under its breadth so no piece of the band falls to the wayside. At any given minute you feel the band’s entire arsenal pointed directly at you and it never wavers nor loses its trajectory.
In what I believe was one of the strongest aspects of Konkhra’s comeback on their last album, the vocals match the vibe of Konkhra’s music perfectly in that they emit a gravelly tone yet it’s just the right degree of brutality that they don’t feel overdone on a record that is otherwise exceedingly well organised. Anders Lundemark, having been with Konkhra since the beginning, understands more than anyone else what kind of vocal delivery is necessary to their band’s sound. Honestly, given he’s now his first years into his fifties, his vocals are very impressive as he manages to project his voice with strength and impact yet it’s done with a finesse and timbre that demonstrates great control and care placed upon his cords. One can imagine his vocals being somewhat the same now as they were during the band’s Sexual Affective Disorder era. Listening closely it’s clear the vocals possess a strong position in the album’s mix, but it’s only just a little higher than the instrumentation. Even considering the vocals, the band wanted to ensure, as greatly as possible, the entire band’s performance could be heard and appreciated for what each member brings to the foray. If the instrumentation is a lusciously designed and tiered cake, the vocals are those freshly picked, red cherries atop.
In conclusion, Sad Plight Of Lucifer is that golden nugget of a death metal record that retains the juicy splendour that made their name beloved back in the day, yet propels the band forth into the twenty-first century. It manages to feel retro and fresh simultaneously, and yet deliver riffs and vibes that will have you bouncing and bopping along to its twists and licks with total ease. It’s an extremely easy album to access and I can foresee many people getting in on Konkhra through this record specifically owing to how polished yet relentless, focused yet rabid, it’s soundscape is. This was a release I knew in advance I wanted to check out, because I knew I would enjoy whatever Konkhra gave me after their comeback 2019 record, and I wasn’t wrong when Sad Plight Of Lucifer was finally presented to me. This is an album you could easily sink your teeth into not knowing their history, and come away fervently convinced to check out the rest of their discography. It’s powerful as it is furious as it is concise as it is assured of its own merits. Sad Plight Of Lucifer affirmed that my faith in Konkhra was concrete and I’m hyped to see what else they do next.
