Album
Type: 12"
Split
Date
Released: 16/1/2015
Label
: Black Bow Records/Great
Barrier Records
Conan/Bongripper,
12" tracklisting:
Side A) Conan – Beheaded (Remastered)
Side B) Bongripper - Zero Talent (Remastered)
Review
For those with a moderate knowledge of the
sludge/doom underground scene, in 2013 there were rumblings, mutterings
if you will that two of the scenes best heavyweight sluggers would
be pitted against each other. Indeed to coincide with a subsequent UK Co-Headling tour, Holy Records released one colossal slab of wax. Conan and
Bongripper did their best to out muscle each other with their own unique down
tuned noxious drone assault, which in turn truly overwhelmed you from start to
finish. Now in 2015, with the songs remastered to sound the way they were intended, Black Bow Records and Great Barrier Records are set inflict the punishment once more, with a superb reissue of said Split 12
Rewind back to 2013, both bands had built a hardened and loyal fan
base, based upon a strong work ethic and a DIY approach to their music, jaw
dropping performances and subsequent live album releases, this marriage of
drone was in many ways a perfect match. The refrain of the album
cover art alone evokes a message that both bands concentrate on the
music. Real amps, real guitars, real drums, real
people and let us not forget the bass, ooh the bass! This split
is music based upon the love of taking the power of the 'heavy' into realms it has never
been.
The Split 12" clocks in at an impressive 26 minutes,
Conan and their track 'Beheaded' kicks
things off with solid drum work from former drummer Paul O' Neil being faded in low to
high, the quiet din of the guitar and bass feeding back, getting louder
until the vitriol of the drone kicks in. It is what we have
come to expect from Conan, large lumbering thick elephantine riffs,
strings like worms flailing under vibrato; you need a gauge like iron rope
to deal with this level of down tuning.
A simple chord progression reverberates for 3 mins until the dual vocals kick
in, raging like disharmonious siblings spitting venom
and fury at each other. What could be more brilliant than that?
Ahem, the fact the track has another 14 minutes to go.
The track has an uncanny knack to get
you spasmodically nodding along, yes it has a pace similar to a lumbering
sloth, but the noise of guitars and bass just bombards the listener.
It is an onslaught and not so much a beheading but an act of grievous bodily
harm, beating you black and blue. A 17 minute bar room brawl and nobody
is getting out alive. It is not just about the guitars and bass, Paul
O'Neil is a master of the slow perfect beat, with measured fills
adding tonality to the track and he holds everything
together succinctly. It is not a showy performance; however he
hits the skins like a cleaver to meat.
'Beheaded' is a fission reactor designed and intent
on liberating as many audible sound waves as possible. In
turn such audibility causes the reactor to explode and that is exactly
what Conan has done. ‘Beheaded’ is a monumental atomic mass
and from where I am standing it looks
beautiful. This symphony of destruction looks beautiful.
What can be said about Bongripper that hasn't
already been said? ‘Satan
Worshipping Doom’ as a standalone record and their subsequent
performance of this revered record at Roadburn a few years back, in my mind can go down in
history as a bonafide classic record and live performance in equal
measure. Nobody seems to have heard of them outside the underground scene
and yet within our ranks, their records are unquestionably sort after, with numerous subsequent represses.
With the track 'Zero Talent', Chicago's finest instrumental wrecking crew
serve up another brilliant addition to their ever expanding list of jaw
dropping releases. Having honed their craft from the more experimental
leanings of albums such as ‘Heroin’, Bongripper's more recent output has leaned
more on the side of doom. Slow, dense, down tuned riffs. I
don't need to tell you this right?
The opening of the track has a kinda sci fi vibe
with the apparent use of electronica, accentuating the sound of feedback
(at least that is what my ears hear) until 'boom' the band kick in. The sound of Bongripper we all know and
love. We are met with a brilliant 8 or 9 note riff, which
wouldn't feel out of place on S.W.D. indeed this track almost feels like an
extenuation from that record. It is a standalone track and yet it bears many similarities.
Slow heaviness that builds and builds, then stops then builds
again. The tone of the riffs are slow, evil and
menacing.
What is amazing on this track is when the
riff is played out and then band, stop!!! And then the riff starts again and stops abruptly again. Truly brilliant. Imagine yourself
standing on the edge of cliff and someone pushes you and you're pulled
back. This passage feels just like that. The riff creates
atmosphere, building tension, getting those palms sweating, feeling
almost claustrophobic.
The production quality and sound in the mix is
stunning. Guitars sound fat and weighty, just 'Ah' so
incredibly sinister and unnerving. Like S.W.D. which evokes a sense
of foreboding and anxiety. At the 4:10 mark, Bongripper bring things
down even slower, with the beat of kick drum thudding your temples and the
din of atmospherics which wouldn't feel out of place in a John Carpenter
movie. Like a swirling horrific fog enveloping you. Guitars
and bass are a raw and dirty, with Bongripper unwilling to refrain from easing
the tension. For the next 3 mins or so this builds until we get into
a black metal vibe, not to dissimilar to the opening of their track
'Satan'. Then finally and for the last time, the fat riffs kick in for the
final throes of the track.
If these guys have 'Zero Talent' then the rest of
their peers better hang up their instruments now, because noise this good
doesn't come easy and on this form Bongripper are top of the pile. A
fantastic end to a monumental split release. Two heavyweights of
the scene, two killer tunes, one massive Split 12". A
definite must have. So if you missed the initial 300 pressings of this record, go buy it, buy 'em all!! DIY or Die!!
Words by : Aaron Pickford
Pressing info:
500 on Dookie Brown
500 on Translucent Beer (A side) & Bronze (B
side) w/ Both Trans and Opaque Red Splatter
Beheaded (remastered at Skyhammer Studio by
Chris Fielding).
Zero Talent (remastered at Comatose Studio by
Dennis Pleckham).
Please Note:
This release will be handled by both bands.
Each band will have 250 of each colour variant
for sale.
Bongripper will handle orders for North America,
South America, and Australia
Conan will handle orders for Europe, Asia, and
Africa on their store
http://blackbowrecords.bigcartel.com/
http://blackbowrecords.bigcartel.com/
Tune below are not the remastered tracks.
