Review by Vladimir on January 1, 2023.

I’ll admit that I am not a huge fan of stoner/doom metal nor sludge/stoner/doom metal, although for some years I’ve been a big fan of Conan from the UK, famous for playing such style of music, inspired by themes of sci-fi, fantasy, and “sword and sorcery” as well. Going back to my first time hearing this band back in 2018 when Existential Void Guardian was released, I was actually amazed by their style and sound which they dubbed “Caveman battle doom”, and upon hearing their earlier albums I got instantly hooked, especially with Blood Eagle. Conan has become my go-to band whenever I needed some escape from reality while imagining a very violent fantasy world of sword and sorcery that was crafted by talented visionaries such as Ken Kelly, Boris Vallejo, Frank Frazetta etc., so it was a big surprise for me when I saw that they released their fifth full-length album Evidence Of Immortality on August 19th 2022. Caveman battle doom legends came back to once again penetrate armors with spears and swords, chop heads with battle axes, crush skulls with war hammers and grind shields with blood and iron. Does Evidence Of Immortality bring back the action we craved for?

Slow, downtuned, heavy distorted riffs with a very dirty/fuzzy guitar tone, shouting vocals by Jon Davis and guttural vocals by Chris Fielding make an epic return to the battlefield for this new album. All tracks possessing such familiar traits that have always been a part of their signature style, with rocking drums that switch to blast beats on 'Levitation Hoax' and d-beat on 'Ritual Of Anonymity'. Tracks 'Ritual Of Anonymity' and 'Righteous Alliance' have quite a bit of catchiness to their riffs which will make you bang your head in sync, even though 'Righteous Alliance' is the shortest track on the album it still does its best to get your attention. The final track 'Grief Sequence' is the longest and definitely a more atmospheric sounding song and is also the only instrumental track on the album, with added synthesizers by David Perry who was also present on the Conan vs. Slomatics split album. The song is quite repetitive on the first half but it decides to switch things on the other half with an added guitar melody and some actual progression, with a very crystal echoing synth noise that wraps up the entire album. The sound production, as always, keeps things the way they’re supposed to be for Conan, dirty and fuzzy guitar tone, distorted bass and both vocals were once again wonderfully produced, mixed and mastered by Chris Fielding. Another great trait of this album besides its tracks is the bloody artwork by Tony Roberts, which fits quite well with Conan’s music and the rest of their discography.

Evidence Of Immortality may not be their best album nor does it want to take that rightful crown which belongs to their earlier works such as Monnos and Blood Eagle, but it is still an awesome album for Conan fans that doesn’t break its promise in delivering caveman battle doom riffs and bloody action. This band will obviously never let go of what they do best and their fans are certainly not asking for it, it is obvious that there is a strong connection between the band and its fans that will be an everlasting union of love and passion for many years to come.

Rating: 8.1 out of 10