Album Review: Conan, Violence Dimension
Nearly 20 years on from their inception in 2006, Conan are an established brand when it comes to destruction, and so, that they would pointedly take violence as the theme of an album, Violence Dimension, makes sense in a way. The first lines on the record, after “Foeman’s Flesh” has laid out its tonal brunt in a signature riff from founding guitarist/vocalist Jon Davis, soon joined by drummer Johnny King and bassist David Ryley (Fudge Tunnel) — the latter of whom is making his first appearance — are, “Time will kill/This is life.” So we see that from the very outside, Conan are not only working to portray violence of the mass-scale or punch-you-in-the-solar-plexus types, but also the backdrop natural violence of the world and the fact that life ends.
This thematic plays out over a course of seven songs and 47 minutes (that jumps to eight songs/59 minutes if you get the 12-minute bonus track “Vortexxion”), and the aforementioned opener is one of three cuts over nine minutes long, alongside “Total Bicep” (9:27), “Violence Dimension” (9:14) and the finale, “Ocean of Boiling Skin” (10:04). That’s not such a radical change structurally from what Conan wrought on 2022’s attempt to crush the ridiculousness of our age, Evidence of Immortality (review here), but it does tell you that even as Conan bring in a new bassist, they remain dug into the trajectory — that’s not to say ‘path of devastation’ — they’ve been on. That’s audible in some of the speedier riffing in “Desolation Hexx” (5:18), and the later shove-mosher “Frozen Edges of the Wound,” which makes a hook of, “This is our victory/This is our time,” as well as the 46-second grindcore blowout “Warpsword,” which feels like a direct answer to the sub-minute “Paincantation” from 2018’s Existential Void Guardian (review here).
It’s a tool in Conan‘s arsenal they’ve chosen to put to use, and behind a lot of what is happening across Violence Dimension, whether it’s the mercurial tempo shifts in “Total Bicep,” which seems to be in a feedback loop of its own speed and aggression, or the title-track, which uses minimalism in its early going in a way I’m not sure Conan ever have before to create an Earth-style drone nod across much of its first half. Of course, it gets heavier to offset the quieter parts, and there are low-growled vocals later, but that the quiet part exists at all is the point.
I’m assuming that’s Ryley on vocals, stepping into the secondary-singer role formerly held by Chris Fielding, who as regards Conan has shifted back to producer-only, though if you told me Davis convinced Fielding to throw down growls on the studio versions, I’d believe it was him on the recording. Ether way , the dual-vocal dynamic that developed between Davis and Fielding was/is the most blatant example of Conan growing as a band over time while remaining committed to their core underlying approach, and even as they move forward with someone else, that isn’t being sacrificed.
And it wouldn’t be. As chaotic and as claustrophobic and intense as Conan can get — and at their heaviest, there are few heavier — they have always been methodical and conscious of what they want to do with their songs. They want them to kill, yes, but the how and why of that violence is part of what Violence Dimension is exploring. The title-track pairs well with “Total Bicep” just before it, as the prior slab is more of an assault, pushing into a midsection gallop that, while I have no idea what the song is actually about, is affecting as it slams into the subsequent slowdown, rides that nod for most of its second half, and fades out to give space to what follows.
Likewise, one could argue for “Frozen Edges of the Wound” as a reorientation or regrounding after “Violence Dimension,” since its shorter course feels more outwardly straightforward and the title-track makes a point of its atmospherics — which, rest assured, are plenty heavy all on their own, whatever take-a-breath letup they might otherwise represent. But all of this is to remind that there’s human presence behind Conan‘s inhumane sound, and that the transition to bringing Ryley into the band as a full-time member (because he and other bassists had filled in before) hasn’t derailed their progression, or even seemingly rerouted it from what their intentions might otherwise be.
That said, Violence Dimension is just the first record of the Davis/Ryley/King era — last year’s DIY 10″ Series Issue 1 EP (review here) notwithstanding — and it may turn out to be the starting point of an entirely new branching off of their sound, and you just can’t know because it hasn’t happened yet and evolution takes time. Or the world could end tomorrow. Whatever. Regardless, the remarkable nature of Conan‘s take — immediately identifiable, marked by distinctive characteristics in tone and songwriting purpose — lets it be so much its own while never quite the same twice. Aurally speaking, it is a great, hulking beast, and Violence Dimension continues this tradition organically and intentionally.
Conan have always known who they are and what they’re capable of, and though there have been changes in the band — Davis has in the past and here incorporated some ambience and drone also explored in his Ungraven side-project, which also has a new LP, Ryley coming on board, etc. — that self-awareness has never done anything but serve the band, allowing them to hit that much harder for knowing why they’re doing it and what they’re trying to convey.
“Ocean of Boiling Skin” rises at its midpoint to a huge, malevolent tsunami of a nod that comprises its final march into oblivion, and that’s how it ends save for the deluxe editions, which include “Vortexxion.” The bonus cut becomes the longest on the LP at 12 minutes, and in the spirit of “Grief Sequence” from Evidence of Immortality is centered around noise; in this case a few obscure samples bookending a large stretch of feedback and other frequency manipulations. It’s not an easy listen, but this too is the point.
The band list Violence Dimension as their seventh full-length, which is something of retcon of 2010’s Hoseback Battle Hammer EP (discussed here; review here) as their debut album — fair enough for how important a release it was for them — but wherever you number it in their discography, the fact remains they are uniquely suited to portraying this album’s theme. Cleaving skulls may not be anything new for Conan, but they’ve gotten awfully efficient at it, and Violence Dimension works well to tie in elements they’ve introduced over the last few outings while lowering a tonal palette of concrete riffs onto the collective chest of their audience. Very much what one would hope for a sixth or seventh Conan album, in other words.
Conan, Violence Dimension (2025)
Conan, “Desolation Hexx” official video
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