When a band’s brutality expands, be it philosophically or compositionally, it can be a risk. Iron Maiden, for example, have spent the past couple decades dealing records packed with epic tracks, few of which manage to stick in the brain after hearing them. One could argue as a band, they were better served with some editing.
Danish death/doom power Konvent land with third record “Firesky” expanding their sound into deadlier terrain and pushing the run time of their songs. In this case, the band—vocalist Rikke Emilie List, guitarist/vocalist Amira Liv Hernan, bassist Heidi Withington Brink, drummer Julie Simonsen—makes the most of these longer songs, letting their fury breathe and stretching their disgust into bruising storms that refused to relent. Lyrically, the band tackles the unfathomable struggle women and LGBTQIA+ people face in a society increasingly more hostile toward them, something put on them by cowardly politicians and their mindless minions who don’t know they’re being fucked over as well. It’s infuriating these issues remain, and Konvent sound more than happy to torch them for good.
“Exorcise” is the nine-minute opener, a sign for what’s ahead as the band leads into churning passages, the growls bruising (List’s vocals always have sounded lurching and gravelly) as the slow-driving pace flattens bodies. Screams belt before calm arrives, fluid guitars forming a black stream, flowing before the pace erupts again, thrashing and strangling. Guitars blaze as the melody spills, the driving attack warping into oblivion. “Scorning” is calculated and muscular, flowing into the shadows, growls bubbling as the tempo spews oil. The doom waters thicken as jagged leads poke prone flesh, the bassline flexing and bending. The playing gets more spirited, the howls gut, and the leads lather, a heartfelt explosion of punishment burning into ashes.
“In the Unknown” runs almost 12 minutes, and each one batters you, punches striking your midsection, the tempo feeling punchy, howls bruising as the heat spikes and pulls back. Cold waters arrive, chilling you to the bone, as the playing flows slowly before tearing open again, the growls snarling and menacing. The leads show muscle as the band stomps, growls level buildings, and everything darkens, driving into oblivion. The title track features Mai Soon Young Øvlisen (Meejah) adding vocals, the opening turning burly, growls charring as black metal-style guitars bask in hell, going into chillier terrain and blackening edges. “Took what is not yours and now that we have called down the sun, let us see what it can do, we will smile as it burns,” Øvlisen calls, shrieks rattling bones, the leads blazing, blood surging emotion and choking with smoke. Closer “Postludium” is an instrumental piece, clean guitars bringing dour warnings, sullen fires crackling as strings glaze, and everything gently fades into the glowing embers.
Konvent’s conversion into longer-form songs is a thunderous one on “Firesky,” their most ambitious record and one that’s a firebreather spitting nails at fascism. Each of these songs scorches body and mind, leaving you arrested by their power and bathing in their fiery glow. This is a triumph of an album that pays off in heaviness, creativity, and anger, proving their powers were even greater than we had anticipated.
For more on the band, go here: https://konvent666.bandcamp.com/
To buy the album, go here: https://label.napalmrecords.com/
For more on the label, go here: https://label.napalmrecords.com/konvent#shop
