Album Review: Sleepbomb - Songs in the Key of Conan
Reviewed by Matthew Williams
Coming out of San Francisco, Sleepbomb are a cinematic doom act who craft full, original scores for genre films, whilst adding their own personal touches along the way. For this album, as you may have already guessed, they are delving into the world of John Milius` 1983 classic Conan the Barbarian and it’s enthralling from start to finish.
The group consists of guitarist Charles Hernandez, Robert Johnson on drums/percussion and bassist Tim Gotch who also plays synths. As if their own input wasn’t majestic enough, they have a trio of contributing musicians who elevate the compositions to a level of sheer genius. With Claire Hamard on vocals, clarinet and keyboards, Matt Pankuch on horns and percussion and K.R. Morrison also on percussion, it would be remiss of me to understate their valuable contribution to this amazing record.
There are 16 tracks for your audible pleasure, starting with “Forged in Steel” which sets the tone for what follows, with a hypnotic drum beat immersing you in their interpretation of the film score. There is a lovely ebb and flow to the soundscapes as they all join and work in perfect harmony, particularly on “My Father’s Sword” followed by “Wheel of Pain” which left me quite speechless when I first heard them one after the other, as the instrumentation is an audible treat.
With varying tempos across the album, the slow build up across “A Gift of Crom” takes you deeper into their mindset, almost as if the music is taking you by the hand and taking you on their journey of discovery. The group mix elements of heavy doom riffs with dreamy shoegaze and then in the next break, it passes the baton over to imposing classical pieces and dynamic guitars, and when listening to songs like “Two Fools who Laugh at Death” you can’t fail to be impressed.
“All The Gods Cannot Save Us” and “The Tree of Woe”, which has a captivating sax solo, are wonderful examples of their inspired musicianship and all this is a culmination of an 11-year journey for the band. However, the group are constantly evolving, and although Claire Hamard amicably left the band last year, her work remains integral to the music.
“The Pyre” is a short, shimmering section of this score, with percussion and horns bringing it to life, as it leads into “Live Forever” and the final track, “Temple on Fire”. They have captured my imagination and brought to life music that was over 40 years old, and given it a truly modern twist in the most innovative of ways.
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