The first word that comes into my head related to the word 'Monnos'
is “monolithic”…something massive and nigh on invincible. Whether that is the first thing the members of Conan think of as well would be interesting to know. This doom metal trio clearly want their music to be something rigid and all powerful, not winning over their
listeners but forcibly taking them over.
'Monnos' is all about those massive walls of concrete guitar. Reverberating around the room and blowing out all the windows in the process, the riffs of opener 'Hawk as Weapon' are huge pounding slabs of pure heavy metal at its most obnoxiously weighty. Conan mean
business with their riffs for sure. It is another question as to whether they can craft those riffs well enough to make them stand out from the doom crowd. With Cathedral having passed on at the back end of 2011, this year could do with another doom band rising up to
become the new kings of the genre alongside titans such as Electric Wizard.
Conan certainly are nowhere near that level at the moment, although they have honed their craft. The basic requirements of the genre have been nailed: i.e. they are heavy as fuck and slow as an aged tortoise with its eyes blindfolded, and they are also acquiescent to throwing in the odd bit of psychedelic wandering as the album progresses. However there still is just too little going on sometimes to hold the attention. This kind of music has, in the eyes of many, been done to death. It hasn’t of course, any genre can still produce classic
albums no matter how devoted to the traditional specifications of its style they are, but it takes something pretty special to make a real impact with a doom record in 2012.
'Monnos' has some fine songs. The aforementioned opener and 'Golden Axe' are the highlights but the last two tracks especially are more nod inducing as a result of slight tedium rather than because they genuinely make the listener want to do their best slow-mo headbanging.
So, Conan are promising rather than the finished article. 'Monnos' is the sort of record that some lovers of the genre will want to play over and over again. Whether it is really going to hit home with everyone who hears it though is another matter. Like a roast dinner that is all meat and no potatoes, this album is never going to be considered a classic but it is just about enough to be going on with.
'Monnos' is out on Monday via Burning World.
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'Monnos' is all about those massive walls of concrete guitar. Reverberating around the room and blowing out all the windows in the process, the riffs of opener 'Hawk as Weapon' are huge pounding slabs of pure heavy metal at its most obnoxiously weighty. Conan mean
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