ALBUM REVIEW: Puritan Masochism – Konvent

Ever since the brute force of death metal fused with the colossal weight of doom, death-doom has evolved into a fully fledged sub-genre of extreme music. It’s a match made in heaven when you think about it and has spawned a wave of killer bands. Danish quartet KONVENT are the latest band to enter the death-doom arena, armed with their debut full-length effort Puritan Masochism.

It speaks volumes when a band are snapped up by a label with only a demo to their name, but such is the story of KONVENT. Backed by the weight and influence of heavy hitter Napalm Records, Puritan Masochism intends to reward the faith given to this young outfit and it certainly achieves just that. Opening with the title track, Puritan Masochim gets off to a roaring start thanks to a trademark delivery of the signature death-doom riffwork from guitarist Sara Helena Nørregaard whilst Rikke Emilie List makes a solid first impression with bout after bout of guttural vocal blasts. It’s a strong opening statement and kicks the record off in the best possible start.

From there, KONVENT continue to impress as Puritan Masochism is a record packed to the brim of quality. The Eye displays the finely walked balance of the creeping crawl of doom with hefty bass tones from Heidi Withington Brink acting as the perfect counter to the slick death metal-esque guitar grooves from Nørregaard. It’s an incredibly difficult task to get the balance just right but KONVENT show their class and as a result, the song stands as one of the standout moments on the record.

There are times though where the band play with the tempo and the weight of their collective influences, keeping Puritan Masochism as dynamic as possible. Cycle of Suffering‘s neat riffing is a mid-tempo headbanger of a song as the intoxicating riffs combine with List‘s consistently impressive guttural vocals whilst Bridge‘s slow and menacing crawl slowly evolves into a groove-driven assault as the band collectively up the ante. It’s a clever trick and one that pays dividends. In a style that is often rigid in its nature, therefore making experimentation all the more difficult, for KONVENT to incorporate these dynamics into their soundscape is a brilliant move and really helps the record really cement itself as a solid body of work.

Speaking of Rikke Emilie List, her vocal prowess across Puritan Masochism is simply outstanding. Operating a range of tones in her arsenal, from the rumbling roars to almost black metal-esque snarls particularly on the colossal World of Gone, her contributions to the band’s overall sound is outstanding, helping the band’s musical maelstrom swirl all the more viciously. In truth, a maelstrom is the perfect metaphor to describe the intensity that KONVENT deliver with Puritan Masochism. The two-part Ropes which comprises of the album’s last two songs, the guitarwork, albeit more melodic in nature compared to the early bludgeoning, still display sinister and misery-inducing tones in Ropes Pt. 1 before unfolding into a much denser and heavier assault on Pt. 2, ending the album with the same intensity as which it began. For the faint of heart, Puritan Masochism may be a challenge to listen to, but if you can stomach the intensity of the band’s pummelling, you’ll find a lot to love here.

With a mountain of quality on offer here, it’s incredibly easy to forget that Puritan Masochism is KONVENT‘s debut effort. An assured, colossal behemoth of a record, Puritan Masochism is a strong statement of intent from this promising band. Whilst it can be a dense and difficult listen to digest at times, it sets the stage nicely for what follows, and whatever KONVENT decide to craft next, you know it will pack an almighty and monstrous punch.

Rating: 8/10

Puritan Masochism is out now via Napalm Records.

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