Conifer - “Crown Fire” Review
Conifer . Crown Fire . 2008. 3.5 stars .
Confier play psychedelic sludge metal in the same vein as Pelican and The Russian Circles, pushing heavy, wiry instrumentals to stratospheric heights. Making Crown Fire stand out, aside from its stellar musicianship, is its organic flow and Eastern-tinged flourishes. Its spiraling riffs and cyclical percussion roll on hypnotically, creating a immersing, stoner-friendly torrent of sound. Its more expansive pieces are set beside dense jams like "Song for Krom" which blends deep bass attacks a la Kyuss with celestial release.
There’s really nothing wrong with this record - its focused, intense, well produced and a fine thing to trip out to. Conifer do however sound very similar to their many rivals in the the sludge/doom metal genre, making their natural and fluid sound seem more constrained than it should. There are some attempts at experimentation, including some spacey post-rock noodling ("History of Disappointment") and even some oddball vocals towards the end of the record, but these brief moments seem somewhat forced compared to their more refined and confident performances.
While Crown Fire may not be breaking any new ground (I know, its an unreasonable expectation for this young band), its still a great piece of work that matches the tremendous energy of Isis, Pelican, Cult of Luna or whoever else is leading the post-metal pack these days. If you are already immersed in this exploding underground scene, then you should certainty check out Conifer. They are, as their name implies, one of the most organic sounding metal bands around.
Confier LIVE IN CAMBRIDGE, MA 7/17/05
January 29th, 2009 at 1:43 am
I put this one in my top 20 for 2008 as well. Worlds a small place huh, I’m way down here in New Zealand, you’re way up top (depending how you see the world I suppose). Nice to know there’s someone else out there who even knows of this band. Thats the great thing about metal isn’t it, it’s the great geographical leveler, doesn’t matter where your from. Have you checked out much else from Important records catalogue? I can really recommend Oceans’ new one, Pantheon of the Lesser, it’s as equally enthralling as their debut.