Brady Deeprose – Conjurer 'Immerse These Metal Hands'
"The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless." Jean-Jacques Rousseau.It might seem like a stretch to draw upon a statement from a Genevan born political and moral philosopher who existed in the 18th century, to introduce Warwickshire’s extreme metal quartet Conjurer. However, if one is to properly analyse the sentence and understand its diversification with its relevance to an array of concepts, especially in the arts’ universe – the connection is exquisitely evident.In the heavy music world, the fusion of genres to create amazingly abstract subgenres is a pursuit that has become more frequent in recent times, and even more delightfully daring. Conjurer embody this motivation, they have even referred to themselves as: “Non-specific UK metal” (former drummer Jan Krause described), essentially though, it is a magnificent melding of sludge, death, gloom, black metal and hardcore. Their first album Mire released in 2018 was a breakthrough for the outfit and in the global metal sector; the prolific publication NME described the outfit as “Britain’s greatest new metal band” and the quartet were invited to play Download Festival and tour the United States with Rivers Of Nihil.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTFFMHmzIkQThe best was yet to come.The sophomore full-length Páthos released in 2022 through Nuclear Blast Records showcased an impossible and immaculate amplification of all the charismatic components Conjurer had delivered with their debut; but the four-piece remarkably ventured further into the experimentation technique. ‘All You Will Remember’ is the group’s finest exploration into the world of melodic vocals so far, a seven-minute metallic opus that also features the haunting harmonious and spoken-word contribution from Alice Zawadzki.Ms Zawadaski is known worldwide for her connection to the jazz world but realistically she inhabits her own realm. A vocalist, violinist, songwriter, and composer based in London – the notion of her collaborating on an extreme metal composition seemed beyond reality. But “the world of imagination is boundless” and as Conjurer’s guitarist and vocalist Brady Deeprose explains during downtime from his duties as touring manager for London’s Pupil Slicer – Alice’s majestic contribution was more than a full circle moment.“We first heard Alice Zawadaski on a track with jazz drummer called Corrie Dick. We were driving to a gig in Birmingham, and we had played two gigs in one day, and we were stuck in traffic. That song came on the radio, and it had this incredible vocal performance from Alice; we were completely mesmerised. In fact, someone started talking in the back and we turned around and told them to ‘shut the fuck up’”. Brady laughs in recollection before continuing – “We just sat in silence and listened to the entire song – it blew us away. When it came to the record, we had this idea for the spoken word part. And I remember saying: ‘We should get the woman from the Corrie Dick song to do it’ which everyone laughed at me for. Anyways I responded that I was going to hit her up and I sent her an email and her response was: ‘My boyfriend's a really big Conjurer fan, sure I'd love to do it!’”He continues - “It becomes an even more ‘full circle’ occurrence as I met her boyfriend two days ago. He was at the Pupil Slicershow.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-u6bd9kgIesUndeniably the idiom of “it’s a small world” could not be more suiting in this scenario. Nevertheless, the idea of a jazz-orientated artist appearing on an earth-shattering extreme metal composition does take a wild imagination; Conjurer wholly made this a reality. The results are above breathtaking; the track alternates between intricate post rock, trouncing post blackened death metal with melodically sung and maliciously screeched and growled vocals, there are also stirring whispered passages. Ms Zadawski’s appearance is unforgettable, a tender and entrancing narrative that is beyond poetic – her presence is not just heard on the piece, it is remarkably felt throughout the witnesses’ bodies. As Mr Deeprose further illustrates, this daring coalescence was magical for the arrangement and flawlessly suited the song's theme (“the track is actually about dementia” Brady discloses).“Yeah, she fucking nailed it, exactly what we wanted!” He clarifies enthusiastically. “The track that helped us discover Alice is called ‘Soar’ by Corrie Dick – have a listen, it is phenomenal. I'm trying to convince her to come and do it live with us at RADAR festival in Manchester in the coming months. I'd love to get her up to come do that track with us.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pIyysywdwcBefore Conjurer and possibly Alice Zawadaski mystifies the audience at RADAR Festival, the quartet are excitedly making their second journey to Australia in a matter of days, but their first to tour our nation. The four-piece did visit Hobart as part of the dazzling Dark Mofo festival in Hobart in 2022, however the adventure did not actually involve any performances outside of Tasmania. Regardless, it plagued this writer to ask how the experience was for the gentlemen in Conjurer?“Well I was deep in the tail end of COVID, and we were there for five days. And I spent four of them in bed. So, I didn’t really get to enjoy the full experience.” Brady admits with a sheepish chuckle. “Honestly though, it is the second best show we've ever played. Only topped by ArcTanGent that year in the UK. It was wild. We're flying to the other side of the world; I don't know if anyone knows who the fuck we are. We got bumped up the bill last minute, so we're the main support on this massive show. Completely jet lagged and still ill, and it was just a fucking dream. The whole vibe of that festival was just unlike anything I've ever experienced. It was one of those: ‘What would 15-year-old me think if he found out that this was where picking up that guitar was going to lead’ moments you know?”Once again, this article has returned to its astonishing “imagination versus reality theme”. At this juncture, it became pertinent to ask how the quartet felt about discovering more of the mainland of Australia and showing us what the extreme metal outfit can do in the more intimate show settings?“Funnily enough on this trip we are also only there for five days! So, coming back and getting to see the mainland and a bunch of other country, I'm stoked! It's not very often these days that we get to go and do like a brand-new territory. So, it's exciting because like we don't really have any idea of what to expect.”And how about supporting the marvels of mathcore Botch for their only visit to Australia ever?“WILDLY unexpected! I think it is quite funny that we are the only British band to be supporting Botch on these reunion shows.” He exclaims with amazement.
“I missed them when they were in the UK, I was actually driving another band. The feedback from everyone that went to their shows is one: They are fucking incredible. And two: They're even better than they were back in the day. They have obviously gone off and accomplished legendary stuff with other bands, then they have come back and all that experience and growth really shows with their performance. Their impact is UNDENIABLE. So, playing with legends of the scene is such a such privilege.”
Interview by Will Oakeshott@teenwolfwill
Páthos is out now through Nuclear Blast Records. Stream here
Tickets on sale now via United Front Touring
Conjurer – Aussie Tour 2024with Lo!*
May 15 @ The Brightside, Bris*
May 16 @ Hamilton Station, Newcastle*
May 17 @ Lansdowne Hotel, Sydney*
May 18 @ Maxx Watts, MelbourneSupporting Botch
May 19 @ The Gov, AdelaideSupporting Botch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQy90xn-zvE
