Delivering crushing deathcore with more than a hint of Arch Enemy, the Swiss Conjonctive are a devastating experience destined to leave listeners reeling with their powerful sonic assault and brutal, twin vocal approach. Featuring nine tracks of highly polished, laser-precise deathcore, ‘until the whole world dies’ is a brutally nihilistic blast of memorably potent and furiously blackened music that will surely appeal to fans of Arch Enemy, Job For a Cowboy, Carcass, Dying Fetus and the like.
Opening with the synth-soaked ‘I spit on your grave’, Conjunction waste little time on subtleties, the down-tuned, grinding riffs quickly segueing into first track proper, ‘the rise of the black moon’ which is pitched somewhere between Cradle of Filths ‘Cthulhu Dawn’, Dying Fetus and Arch Enemy in terms of pitch black, rage-soaked brutality. Vocalist Sonia veers between vocal-chord destroying roars and sylph-like voice over whilst Randy provides inhuman support with a helium-inflected roar that suggests a lifetime of listening to Cannibal Corpse. Even for deathcore, Conjunction do a good job of sounding more pissed off than the rest, the machine gun drums of Manu powering the tracks whilst the guitars are hammered out over strings so down-tuned they must surely be slapping around the knees of guitarists Ralph and Yannick. Talent is clearly something that Conjunction have in abundance and by the time the hypnotic groove and grind of ‘Somnambulant Cannibal’ detonates somewhere near your temple you’ll be hooked. The two vocal approach works brilliantly well, whilst the emergence of occasional synth lines adds depth to the songs, as do the numerous guitar flourishes that the band throw in when they think no-one’s looking. The emphasis here is firmly on the blackened aspect of the band’s sound with the result that the songs are frequently not only unspeakably brutal but also memorable with particular highlights being the devious ‘Inceste Indigeste’, which shifts pace half way from sludge to raging torrent of blackened noise, and the chrome-plated riffs of ‘until the world dies and nothing more’. Clearly the product of much refinement, the band’s previous two EPs have stood them in good stead for this debut full-length offering, whilst the exemplary musicianship speaks of countless hours locked in dank rehearsal spaces.
Short and sour, by the time the listener reaches ‘Exit humanity’ they’ll be happily in thrall to Conjunction’s blackened, apocalyptic world view. The album clocks in at a mere thirty minutes, but it is fair to say that not one of those minutes is wasted as the band display a natural flair and talent that should, if there is any justice, see their name enter the common language of metal very soon. This is the sound of the band neatly distilled into nine near-flawless tracks which demonstrate both innate musical skill and a depth of song-writing that belies the fact that this is the band’s debut. If you are looking for a fast, furious fix of blackened death metal then you need look no further than Conjunction, for ‘until the whole world dies’ is an astonishingly powerful and committed debut from a band who deserve to go on to far greater heights.
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