AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: KONKEROR – “I, MONOLITHIC”

 Premieres  5 Responses »
Mar 242014
 

In October 2012, NCS writer TheMadisraeli went bonkers over the debut album by a band from the outskirts of Detroit named Konkeror. He threw around comparisons to the likes of Melechesh, Nile, Vader, Obituary, and Immolation and concluded by praising The Abysmal Horizons as “a collection of songs that prove potent enough to compete with even the most legendary of death metal veterans — it’s impressive, it’s vicious, it’s sophisticated, it’s badass.”

Now, Lacerated Enemy Records is on the verge of re-launching Konkeror’s debut worldwide with brand new eye-catching artwork by Mark Cooper (above), in physical as well digital formats, and including Konkeror’s recently recorded cover of Bolt Thrower’s “Cenotaph” as a bonus track. And to help add fuel to the launch we’re premiering the band’s official video for the album’s first track, “I, Monolithic”. To borrow TheMadIsraeli’s words about this song:

“A foreboding acoustic intro followed by a doom riff with badass solo work ushers in a torrent of blackened death metal ferocity.  The riffs here just catch your ear, attach to your memory like leeches, and mummify you from the inside out…. After this song alone, you’ll feel like someone just hit you with a truck.” Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: JEFF BEAUCHAMP (KONKEROR)

 Interviews  3 Responses »
Dec 112012
 

photo by Casey Carlton

(In this post TheMadIsraeli interviews Jeff Beauchamp of Detroit’s Konkeror.)

Konkeror are one of the best breakout death metal bands I’ve heard in a long time, and if you haven’t checked out my review of their debut The Abysmal Horizons, you really should, and then buy the album.  They need the support.  I was fortunate enough to get an interview with his majesty, growl master and bassist Jeff Beauchamp, and here is the result. Hope you enjoy.

P.S: Someone needs to sign these guys.

 

TMI: Thanks for giving me the opportunity to do this man. I’ve been high on the album since I discovered it.

JB: Thank you very much, we’re glad you’re enjoying it.

 

TMI: So, tell me, how did Konkeror come together and why?

JB: All of us knew each other when we played in separate bands. I was in The Vala and Enochian, Jake [Plater] and Eric [Zwicker] in When Heroes Fail, and Toby [Dennis] in Kenshiro. Konkeror mainly formed from the ashes of Jake, Eric, and Toby’s previous band called Iliad which formed roughly in 2006 (I believe). They dissolved rather quickly after recording a demo but began writing new material after some time away in 2011. When I joined the mix in early 2012, about 80% of the music was written for The Abysmal Horizons. They weren’t completely settled on a name. I guess logically I was the final piece of the puzzle to craft the songs out with vocals and patterns. After about a month of jamming together, we went right into the studio. Continue reading »

KONKEROR: “THE ABYSMAL HORIZONS”

 Album Reviews  10 Responses »
Oct 292012
 

(TheMadIsraeli reviews the debut album by a Michigan band known as Konkeror.)

Sometimes it just baffles me how a breakout band doesn’t get noticed when their debut absolutely slays, like, everything.  Konkeror are definitely one of these bands. Not only have they released a debut of extremely rare killer-quality material, they very well may have one of the best albums of the whole year.

Konkeror are extremely no bullshit, no frills, ballsy, thrashy, Middle Eastern death metal from the outskirts of Detroit who bring riffs that tame serpents, create sand storms, and slay prophets of old, accompanied by feral snarling vocals and a killer drummer whose got a sense of regality and Middle Eastern groove in his work.  It’s an album loaded with influences from Melechesh, Nile, Vader, Obituary, and Immolation.

To repeat: It’s a wonder to me how a debut as killer as The Abysmal Horizons has flown under so many people’s radars.  These guys are the real deal.

All of this is immediately apparent in the ass kicker of an opener, “I, Monolithic”.  A foreboding acoustic intro followed by a doom riff with badass solo work ushers in a torrent of blackened death metal ferocity.  The riffs here just catch your ear, attach to your memory like leeches, and mummify you from the inside out. Continue reading »