Conan (10 year anniversary) @ Electrowerkz, London, UK

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With monolithic tones and barbarian tales, Conan were born to destroy. The UK trio began in 2007, with Rich Lewis joining on drums in 2014 and Chris Fielding (long term producer) taking over the role of bassist / vocalist in 2013. Original founding member, Jon Davis (guitar vocals) has been present for each and every recording undertaken so far, and as chief song writer and band leader helped bring the band to people’s attention through the Battle in the Swamp EP as their first outing in 2007, but it was 2010’s Horseback Battle Hammer EP that first caught the attention of the international underground, and the impression of Conan’s “caveman battle doom” was immediate. Songs like “Satsumo” and “Krull” showed that just because the band sounded big didn’t mean they couldn’t also write a ong, and when their debut long-player, Monnos, followed in 2012 preceded by a 2011 split with Slomatics, the response was duly huge.

A slot at the Netherlands’ prestigious Roadburn festival in 2012 resulted in 2013’s Mount Wrath live album, and Conan continued to shake venue floors and cave in chest cavities wherever they played. Touring Europe, they shared the stage with Sleep in Norway and in 2013, Conan featured at Desertfest in London, laying waste to Camden’s famed Underworld club alongside Chicago’s Bongripper, with whom they also released a split EP, Conan’s contribution coming in the form of the sprawling, droned-out “Beheaded,” their longest song to date at over 17 minutes.

After tracking them using forensic experts and analysis of the footprints the band left stomping across the UK and Europe to support Monnos, including at the 2013 Damnation Festival, Napalm Records signed Conan for the release of their second album. Davis, in turn, set about building a temple. Working with the band’s longtime producer Chris Fielding, he constructed Skyhammer Studio, where, as the house engineer, Fielding would helm 2014’s Blood Eagle for Napalm as both Conan’s and the studio’s reputation continued to grow.

To celebrate their return with their most accomplished blend yet of riff-largesse and memorable hooks, topped off as always by Tony Roberts artwork featuring their mascot “The Sentinel,” Conan set forth a full European tour for Spring 2014, including a return to Roadburn and appearances at Doom Over Leipzig, Droneburg Festival, Temples Festival, the St. Helena Doom Fest and France’s famed Hellfest plus several other outings including Amplifest in Porto, Desertfest in Antwerp and a full Australia tour.

2015 has seen Conan venture once more into Skythammer Studio with Chris Fielding at the helm, to write the follow up to Blood Eagle. On the back of an EU tour with Ufomammut, and a headline US tour they will soon bear to the world  their heaviest material to date, showing off the new found agility and cutting edge borne from the new lineup of Jon Davis, Chris Fielding and Rich Lewis. Festivals such as Maryland Deathfest, Psycho California, Desertfest Berlin, Bloodstock UK and Eistnaflug have seen Conan rise from a band who proudly patrolled the UK underground scene to true flag bearers of HEAVY riffs, totally at home on the big stage.

Their shows are already the stuff of legend and the follow up to Blood Eagle promises to be breathtakingly powerful, Conan’s conquering days have just begun – 2016 promises to be an exciting year.