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doomedandstoned · 4 years

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Konvent Debut Neck-Breaking Death Doom Masterpiece

~By Willem Verhappen~

It's not often that I'm impressed by a demo, but every so often Bandcamp treats me to something special, a diamond in the rough. It was only last year that I came across the 2017 demo of Danish death doomers , but it stuck with me. This demo promised me a good mix of stuff I like, namely nasty death doom with some catchy stoner hooks molded into it. Just listen to "Square" to see what I mean. I'm happy to say that I wasn't the only one impressed by the demo, because Austrian metal merchants Napalm Records once again prove that they have an ear for talent, picking up Konvent and releasing their debut record, 'Puritan Masochism' (2020).

Listening to Puritan Masochism makes it clear that these women have developed their sound quite a bit in the last couple of years. The stoner influences are pushed to the background. What remains is crushing, relentless death doom. Straight forward, no-nonsense, hard hitting metal in its purest form, but with a keen sense of melody.

By the time you've reached the third track, "Trust," anyone who says they're not hooked on the riffs, is lying. If you're more a fan of the really heavy death metal, "World of Gone" will serve you well. Musically, I keep comparing Konvent to the slower Dutch death metal bands like Asphyx and Grand Supreme Blood Court. Heidi Withington Brink (bass) and Julie Simonsen (drums) deliver a pounding, sluggish base, while Sara Helena Nørregaard adds an extra dimension with her thriving, faster guitar work.

Rikke Emilie List's grunts are the (rotten) cherry on top. This woman has a set of pipes that would make many of her colleagues blush. Her vocals alternate between growls similar to those of Nick Holmes and the sub-bass grunts you'd expect on a Demilich record. On the stomping "Waste," List gets some help from Morild's Tue Krebs Roikjer, who throws some black metal screams in the mix.

While I consider this record more of a death metal record with doom influences, this is changes during the two-parter "Ropes." In the first part, the band is leaning more towards black metal, with dissonant melodies and some much needed air to breathe. "Ropes Pt. II" is by far the most dynamic song on Puritan Masochism, mixing death doom with faster parts, sounding almost like post metal, but dirtier. Much dirtier. With this the band proves that there's more to Konvent than just death and doom.

In their promo sheet, Napalm blatantly states that Copenhagen might become the new death doom capital, and while that might be a bit much, I can't deny that Konvent is a force to be reckoned with. It's not often I find a straight forward death doom record that manages to grab me from beginning to end, without being over 20 years old, but this is one of them. Up until now, I associated Denmark mostly with Mercyful Fate and Lego, but you can add Konvent to that list.

An interview with Sara from Konvent

First of all, thank you for this interview. 'Puritan Masochism' (2020) has been out for a couple of weeks now. How are the reactions so far?

Hi! And thank you so much for wanting to talk to us. Yeah, Puritan Masochism has been out since 24th January and we just finished our tour in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Germany.

We’ve been overwhelmed with the attention our album is getting and it’s really exciting to see how people are reacting to it. The reactions have been really good and we couldn’t think of a better reception of the album. Of course it’s a matter of taste whether you like it or not, and we know that our album isn’t for all. But seeing so many people coming to our shows in cities or countries we have never been before, and people actually buying our vinyls and merchandise just makes us so happy and gives us the desire to keep on going.

Since this is our debut album we already got a lot of new ideas for the second album and we actually see this very much as a learning process where we are able to evolve over time. There has also been a lot of people wanting to talk to us and interview us, and we really haven't seen that coming to such an extent. But people have been really nice and it’s always fun to meet people. So we’re happy!

Puritan Masochism by Konvent

There’s quite a gap between your demo and your debut record and it’s clear you’ve grown as a band. Can you tell us a bit about what has been going on in the past three years?

Thank you so much! The first year we pretty much spent on getting to know our instruments and each other, but we quickly started working on our own material, and the demo that came out in 2017 was a result of that. Then we played a lot of shows around Denmark and that really helped us grow as musicians and as a group. During all these shows we were also working on songs for a debut album, but it was a very slow process. It wasn’t until after we got on Napalm Records, that we really stepped it up and got to finish it.

At the same time, it was also important to do it in our way and not let ourselves be pressured of someone else expectations to us. The demo was a big learning curve for us regarding our sound. It just expanded our minds on how creative we could get with the sound. This really helped us when we went into the studio with Lasse Ballade from Ballade Studios to record our debutalbum, because we spent a long time tweaking the sound of the instruments and putting small things in here and there. And Lasse was imminent in making the sound of the album! He is a beast at what he does and was such a treat to work with. I think this gap between our demo and the album reflects a lot of what many other bands are “struggling” with as well.

On the one hand, you really want to get out and play as many gigs as possible, but on the other hand you also want to prioritize making some great songs - and sometimes it can be difficult to achieve it all. It takes time. We also had many people asking us why we didn’t put some of the demo songs on the album. But we really wanted to make new songs, because some of the demo songs were from 2016 and we felt like we had evolved as musicians. So we knew we could make even better songs if we just pushed ourselves.

Demo by Konvent

What were your inspirations, both musical and lyrical for the record?

Our album isn’t a concept album, but if you were to put a theme on it, or around the lyrics of the songs it would basically be losing control over your life.

The song "Puritan Masochism" -- which is also the title of the album -- is about how everyone has a tendency to do things, or thinking things that actually hurt us, but we keep thinking/doing those things because we feel we have to, in order to fit into something or to live up to some imagined expectations. And sometimes we keep doing these things without even realizing it because you just go on autopilot. It’s sort of our way to say that we don’t have to live like that.

But our inspiration comes from everyday life experiences, both ups and downs, but mostly downs. Musically we all have a lot of different genres that we like. Julie likes hardcore and punk and Rikke likes tech death. So we all drag different genres and styles into the rehearsal place and it just goes on from there.

Your music has quite an old school vibe to it. Was that intentional?

We really wanted that raw, gritty sound, as if the music is coming from the abyss! And that’s why we chose to work with Lasse Ballade, because he had made a bunch of cool records that we really admired. Also, we don’t like too many guitar solos and a lot of effects and that was important to us when we picked our producer.

We never sat down and decided to play death doom. The only thing we talked about from the beginning, was to play heavy music with an evil sound and growling vocals. So after the first rounds of rehearsals where we were playing covers, we quickly felt like just playing something of our own. And we just jumped head first in there and made riffs before we even knew exactly what we were doing. I don’t think we knew in the beginning that the songs we were making sounded doomy and old school like and it wasn’t until other people heard it that the genre doom came up. We remember having to write something about our music before our first show in 2016 and just not knowing what to write. So we had to get people in, to get their opinion on it. We've also been compared to some bands that we didn't even know before -- we just play the music we feel like.

Your agenda appears to be quite empty so far. Can we expect to see you on tour again soon?

We just finished our Puritan Masochism Tour with 10 gigs in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Germany. And we’re going to London and Oslo this month also. We also have some festival gigs for this summer. It’s a pretty big thing for us, when we’re able to go to new places or countries, we have never been before.

We are still a very young band that not a lot of people know of, so we’re actually really happy about our agenda this far. We’ve played at Roskilde Festival and Copenhell, which is the two biggest festivals in Denmark. And to see our first single “Puritan Masochism” on YouTube get so many views is crazy to us, too. Regarding people showing up to shows and buying merch, we’ve always been pretty lucky. People are really good at coming out early to see us and eager to support us in the merch booth, so that is a huge thing for us.

Of course, we would really like to go on bigger tours and play more festivals, as long as it can work out financially. And we are steadily getting more offers, so that’s really exciting! Our booker Thorsten, from Napalm Events is handling all our offers, but we often get messages directly from bookers who want to put on a show with us and then we just direct it to him. And, yes, we have more plans for 2020, but we can’t tell anymore at this moment, sorry!

Your label states that Copenhagen might become the next death doom capital. Do you agree? Are there any death doom or doom bands from your local scene that we should keep an eye on??

That’s a big statement! But there are so many great bands here in Copenhagen and the rest of Denmark. I don’t think that death/doom is the most popular genre here in Denmark. People tend to like it faster. But worth mentioning is the danish band Katla. We just played two gigs with them and they appear to do it pretty well on the Danish scene with a debut album to come in 2020. Otherwise we have bands like Alkymist, Bethmoora, Drukner, Dirt Forge and, of course, Saturnus.

The title 'Puritan Masochism' has a clear religious context. Is Denmark a religious country?

Not really. "Puritan Masochism" is the title for our first single from the album, as well, and it was the first track that was finished for it several years ago. The song is about how us humans have a tendency to put ourselves in situations where we don’t feel good enough. With this song we’re hoping that people will identify and question their habits of doing that. We felt like this would be a great album title because it was something we really resonated with. We did not think of it in a religious context.

Once again, thank you for your time. Any last words for our readers?

Thank you so much and thank you for wanting to interview us! Hopefully we’ll see you at a show at some point. And thank you to all the people out there listening to our music and buying our stuff. This means the world to us.

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#D&S Reviews #D&S Interviews #Konvent #Copenhagen #Denmark #Doom #Death Doom #Metal #Napalm Records #Willem Verhappen #Doomed & Stoned

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whereisthebreaddd · 4 years

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Creative Audio

Creative Audio 2020:

Genre(s): Alternative/Lo-Fi

Concept idea: A mini EP album containing ideally three tracks which produces a juxtaposed form of sounds. I wanted to try to formulate work that is both calming and energising at the same time. Something like a mix of emotions, or symbolising confusion - if there were lyrics I would definitely consider rather slow, sad or significant expressions in the songs.

The past few weeks, generating ideas for a song was tough but I made a few tracks that needed heaps of tweaking. Although I am inexperienced in this field, learning how to utilise some basic features in Audio editing apps has connected me, in a way, to my favourite artists, as I sort of have an understanding of how they produce and lay out their work.

For one, I have always loved sad songs - or very slowed and out-of-zone type beats. I like to find slowed + reverb versions to songs. I find it relaxing and it keeps me in a steady place of thought for a while.

Most inspirational Artists:

Billie Eilish - I find that I relate to this artist in many ways. From connection to her music as well as her personality and being around the same age, I see that a lot of her music and agendas correlate with some issues in our generation. Her debut album “Don’t smile at me” was something I could heavily relate to 3 years ago as dealing with a lot and not feeling I can talk to anybody, this album was always sitting in my playlist, and I was ready to indulge into an emotional mind field almost at any point. I also think she really set a standard for our generation and pioneered a new era in music. The song that not only went viral, but also caught my attention was Ocean Eyes (2016) because it was one of the very calming and go-to songs.

Troye Sivan - Although I don’t identify as a LGBT person, growing up in my early teens I was feeling down a lot of the time. I would often listen to his music because it was soothing but every time I’d listen to one his Blue Neighbourhood (Debut Album, 2015) it always felt like I was listening to it for the first time again. One of his best techniques, in my opinion, is how he uses suspense in his songs and a sense of unpredictability especially in FOOLS in the “Blue Neighbourhood” album(2015).

Tyler, the Creator - I really love his sense of music style. He does not care about criticism and produces what he wants, when he wants - I love his aggression in his music with also a reflecting sense of vulnerability, especially portrayed in EARFQUAKE from the “IGOR” album (2019). I grew up (from age 12…) watching OFWGKTA and I loved the rebellious sensation they give off.

7:AMP: Que (7:AMP) is a very very underrated artist. Listening to his music on sound cloud at first was a bit overwhelming with the unusual composition. I am used to a certain structure of a song - a catchy beat and repetition. His music often embodies a sense of unpredictability - the elements he uses is so messy and unsteady to the point where it is kind of soothing. I can’t explain it but it kind of gives me something to look forward to as the sounds used in his songs are usually unexpected and that’s what makes it unique. Prada don Dada, Boonana and Baby ball are some of his best I reckon.

Cover Art research:

These are cover art pieces I always enjoyed observing or inspire what I want to make…

These album covers are of the following artists in chronological order:

Don’t smile at Me - Billie Eilish (2017)

Blue Neighbourhood - Troye Sivan (2015)

IGOR - Tyler Okonma (2019)

Thank u, next - Ariana Grande (2018)

BLOOM - Troye Sivan (2018)

Prada don Dada - 7:AMP (2018)

Lovely - Khalid & Billie Eilish (2017)

1999 a Charli XCX x Troye Sivan (2018)

Wings - BTS (2016)

Techniques:

I have always had an admiration for rather simplistic artwork or cover art. Album or single art covers are something I observe to try and break down the artist or their intentions. I consider the colours, layout and style highly effective in portraying a proper image of what an artist will want to convey.

Symbolism is always interesting in art, as you have to interpret or comprehend it in different ways, either how the artist intends to show it or how you relate to it in your own way.

Colours: Either using soft and opaque colours OR bright and vibrant colours, I don’t feel as though they would work together efficiently, in my opinion…

Minimalism: Having a simple image or design is always elegant, when using the right colours and techniques I think. I do like negative space in my work and a clean finish.

Cover Art:

These are rough designs derived from one concept made today in class...

I like using a lot negative space as mentioned earlier. It is more aesthetically pleasing. This concept was just inspired by my fascination for outer-space, particular Saturn. I just like Saturn. To me, it depicts that there is much more out there, not just in the world, but in this entire universe - more than what we could ever imagine.

For the colours, I just thought that using contrasting colours in the first two as it would not be difficult to see. Third one, I wanted a softer, opaque base and a warm colour for the planet - not too harsh on the eyes...

For the music, I haven’t quite got used to all the tools in Adobe Audition. Serato studio was fairly simple to make a basic tune but I much preferred to use a traditional looking programme. I’m still in the process of producing three tracks and still learning. Although, producing isn’t my forte, I get a lot of help from my brother who happens to work under Sony: Columbia records. I want to produce music similar to his although the genre of his songs aren’t officially a genre. Siren jams are popular amongst Polynesian, Micronesian and Latino communities, especially in Mexico. I wanted to attempt to make a different kind of sound without it just sounding like a bunch of random sounds - still working on it.

Playlists of interesting songs:

General: https://music.apple.com/nz/playlist/heat/pl.u-AkAmPlyU216Xbd4

Project inspo: https://music.apple.com/nz/playlist/creative-audio-inspo/pl.u-RRbVvBVF35EVJlv

Trap/Hip-hop: https://music.apple.com/nz/playlist/trap/pl.u-leyl0yeCjXqz7Kk

Tranquillity: https://music.apple.com/nz/playlist/playlist/pl.u-vxy693XCzV9REqA

K-Pop: https://music.apple.com/nz/playlist/kpop/pl.u-AkAmPNbF216Xbd4

#ctec605 #creativeaudio #bct

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