Band:	Conan
Album:	Blood Eagle
Style:	Doom metal, Stoner metal
Release date:	February 28, 2014
Guest review by:	Mehrad

01. Crown Of Talons
02. Total Conquest
03. Foehammer
04. Gravity Chasm
05. Horns For Teeth
06. Altar Of Grief

Conan? O'Brien or gigantic muscular barbarian warrior? The latter.

Being HEAVY has different meanings to different people. To me, being HEAVY means the crushing guitar tone, powerful vocals, thunderous drums and that feeling of epicness, but it also should be groovy. Therefore, by my definition of being HEAVY, Conan is HEAVY. I'm also Iranian, so I may be dancing to this stuff.

I see a lot of criticism of Conan's lead vocals (the higher pitched ones) and I kinda get it, but on Blood Eagle it just works; I mean, just listen to the delivery of these lines from "Foehammer": "Miles drowned rivers. Seek eyeless dwarf. Ridden headless horse" - it's just so epic. Also, this song is probably the most unique song of the bunch; it starts off with these fast drum patterns (the drummer is really creative overall), then a bunch of cool riffs whilst these lines are recited, then it goes to a crushingly slow doom rhythm that goes really well with the music video.

All the songs of this album demolish your spine. "Total Conquest" is my personal favorite of the album; it's entirely sung by the bassist, who has the kinda "deeper" vocals and the delivery of a battle commander:

"Wizened giant leader. Bring forth the hammers. Two handed shockwave. Endless Thunder.
One arrow eight deaths. Power from the sun. Blood drenched harvest. Grief upon the land"

This section makes me want to go wield a great-hammer and go to a battle on a horse with arrows coming at me.

One complaint though, all of the songs kinda fall into the same basket; there's not much variety and diversity. It can also be really tiring to listen to it as a whole; it might be 'too much' heaviness for some people, to the extent that it is not so interesting. Additionally, the tone of the guitar is just HEAVY AS FUCK, but it comes with a sacrifice; although there is a lot of killer riffs, you might not hear some of the subtle details in said killer riffs.

Recommended songs: "Total Conquest", "Horns For Teeth" and "Foehammer"

For fans of: Electric Wizard, Eremit and Sleep