ALBUM REVIEW: Conquistador – Stone Healer

Hailing from Asheville, North Carolina, the explanation-defying STONE HEALER are set to release their debut full-length album, Conquistador. Following up the duo’s highly praised 2015 EP He Who Rides Immolated Horses, expectations are high for this release, but with a list of influences as long as your arm and including bands as diverse as DODHEIMSGARD, KVELERTAK, ALICE IN CHAINS and KRALLICE,  can the brothers Kaminsky marry these incredibly disparate styles and meld it into critical success once again?

Opening track One Whisper opens with a slightly discordant but very pleasant acoustic intro. It is followed by thick riffs, wailing licks and a cowbell break a la BLUE ÖYSTER CULT’s most famous moment. Then the vocals start, clean and high. Some of the initial confusion upon first listen will alleviate though when the metallic thunderclap kicks in in the background. Decent riffs, sonorous bass and wildly impressive drum work are all firmly on display here, although the choice to remain in the higher register clean vocal style over the top does seem jarring. This begins to make slightly more sense later when it is used as a call and response style, where harsher vocals overlay the harder riffs and a softer, more melodic approach is used for the slower chug parts.

This is a theme that is repeated through second track Whence Shall I, although to a slightly lessened effect than on its predecessor. If you were to listen to only one track from Conquistador, the recommendation would have to be the 11-minute Surrender. It is STONE HEALER at their most cohesive and manageable. It begins with a relatively simple heavy introduction, before breaking down into a luscious acoustic piece that sounds like it could be a lost ALICE IN CHAINS demo. There is then a slow and gradual build back up to the ULCERATE-esque juddering madness of the heavy parts, done in such a slow and controlled roll that it is almost imperceptible, leading to an enormous, pulverising crescendo.

The middle section of this album, where the vocals take a turn for the demented and proggy bass-heavy flair gives way to thunderous percussion and absolutely battering riffs. The album really seems to come into its own here, even offering up Conquistador’s best riff, a gnarled and grindy thing which rears its head at around the five minute mark of Torrent Of Flame. Listen to it and try to stop nervous energy creeping into your neck and preferred shakin’ fist. You’ll have real trouble keeping them still. Nevertheless, by the time the album approaches its closing moments, STONE HEALER deliver some devastating musicality. Highlights include the mammoth closer Into The Spoke Of Night which is immediately and unassailably heavy and sits in a similarly digestible vein to earlier track Surrender, only it is a much more full on and immediate wall-of-noise approach.

Overall, Conquistador is immensely well played. The musicianship on display here is utterly impeccable and the production job is rich and deep. It is a record thoroughly overflowing with ideas, influences and initiative. However, it seems almost as though STONE HEALER are just trying to fit too much in. In trying to cover all their bases, pay tribute to all their heroes and build a 51-minute, statement of intent debut record, it feels like they have actually written both an excellent extreme metal album and a sensitive and soulful grunge opus, then accelerated them to high speed and smashed them into each other, while throwing lashings of prog onto it from overhead, cackling maniacally.

This is not to say the album is horrible, on one hand there are many engaging and even downright fantastic ideas being placed on the table here, but on the other it feels somewhat crammed, overcomplicated and obtuse. A stern eye turned to editing this beast could have made it slightly less unwieldy and more accessible, but as it stands Conquistador will likely delight fans of the more progressive and technical side of things, whereas if you prefer your metal to be more straightforward you would be advised to tread carefully, as you’ll likely find it about as clear as mud.

Rating: 7/10

Conquistador is out now via self-release.

Like STONE HEALER on Facebook.