Album Review: Pijn & Conjurer – Curse These Metal Hands (Holy Roar Records)

Curse These Metal Hands is a project unlike many others. Combining the talents of two of UK metal’s brightest new bands, Pijn & Conjurer, Curse These Metal Hands is a salute to the power of uplifting heavy music. Out on August 16th 2019 via Holy Roar Records.

Knowing each band previously and separately might lead you to believe that Curse These Metal Hands is a dark, crushing release. Far from it – where there before was darkness, now there is light. In the band’s own words:

It’s purely just some songs we made to induce joy.

As the words above say, change your expectations. This is not a Conjurer or Pijn release in the conventional sense. It’s music to relax (sort of) too. Music to make you feel good. We have plenty of the more brutal stuff with the bands individual work so why the hell not have something a little different when they combine forces?

That being sad, it is still got some toughness and roughness about it.

High Spirits begins things very softy. Light guitar melody leading to a very punchy and uplifting moment. Kind of like Baroness but heavier. It’s really huge sounding and hits you right in the feels. Peaks and valleys, bloody lovely.

https://youtu.be/ZbPC7UgaTa0

The Pall leans more into the instrumentation with hefty hits of the drums and an underlying expectation that it’s going to get a lot heavier. When it does, we find one of the more layered and epic sounding tracks on the EP.

After such a huge track, Endeavour changes tact by being super short and quietly intense. It’s the darkest moment of the release and the vocals are particularly raw. It’s a precursor to Sunday, a lengthy trip into fascinating rhythms, melodies and more that is over 10 minutes long. It doesn’t feel it though, the highs and lows wrapping around the mind and delivering an experience that lifts the spirit. The clean singing is phenomenal and of the four tracks, this is the one we’d recommend people listen too.

Pijn & Conjurer – Curse These Metal Hands Full Track Listing:

1. High Spirits
2. The Pall
3. Endeavour
4. Sunday

Links

Conjurer Facebook | Conjurer Twitter | Pijn Facebook | Pijn Twitter | Holy Roar Records