Konkhra "Sad Plight of Lucifer" (Review)

Konkhra “Sad Plight of Lucifer”

2024 Hammerheart Records / CD, LP

www.hammerheart.com

BADASS SONG TITLES: Sad Plight of Lucifer, Seven Plagues, Resurrection Machine, Tentacles of Madness

BADASS TRACKS: Sad Plight of Lucifer, Seven Plagues, Nothing Can Save You, The Lesser Key of Solomon, Artificial Sun

BADASS ONE-WORD DESCRIPTION: Consistent

Konkhra, from Denmark, has been around a long time -almost as long as I’ve been listening to metal. I first encountered their work at a local record store in my old hometown in Ohio in the late 1990s, and I remember liking those albums. Then I just didn’t really follow them for whatever reason, but when I encountered this new release, I felt like I should give it a listen, because of liking those older records. I was right to do it. All the key Konkhra elements are there – groove-laden, chunky-as-fuck death metal riffs, mid-range vocals that aren’t a full growl but aren’t weak, and lots of double bass. The song writing is still good, too, and not out of line with how they used to write. They know exactly where to lean on thrash-filled intensity or back it off within the song structure. I won’t bore you with an analysis of all the songs and other things, because if you are an ardent adherent of the metal of death like myself, you will at least be tangentially familiar with this band.

The guitars continuously crank out heavy-as-fuck riffs and morbidly melodic solos, and these gents know how to write a groove without over-relying on it, with almost all the songs being catchy, memorable, and diverse musically. I love that there’s a ton of double-bass work in the drums, and that the drums aren’t over-produced. In fact, the entire album isn’t over-produced. It’s warm-sounding, thick, but clear in every respect. It gives the songs extra character and personality, letting performances shine through. There are only a couple of songs I thought they could drop to make the album stronger, like “Revolution” and “Resurrection Machine” (although the latter has an awesome title). I just didn’t think those were as good as the rest of the record, like they’re just missing a certain something. Otherwise, this album is quite strong, consistent, and heavy, just like their early records (which I revisited before listening to this). It will likely wind up in my collection at some point.

Konkhra has always been a bit different than other Scandinavian bands by not leaning on the trends of their time, sound- or recording-wise. They’ve done their own thing, and I think they’re stronger for it. As far as my assessment of whether it’s worth your time to check out if you’re a fan of death metal, yes. It is. In fact, a lot of young fans of the bands that are popular now that are using a lot of groove in their sound (200 Stab Wounds, Sanguisugabogg, and the ilk) could learn a thing or two about the history of this music by checking out Konkhra’s work. It appears what’s old is new again in the scene, and that’s only a good thing as far as I’m concerned.