SXSW Record Reviews

Doom metal's rising stars, Conan ups the ante on third LP Revengeance. A power trio from the northwest of England, they decided their prior platters were for pussies, so everything amps up here – the deep grunge of its guitar tones, the sludge/stomp tempos, the painful shouts that pass for vocals. "Thunderhoof" and "Wrath Gauntlet" crawl along with blood-soaked fury, while the title track adds unvarnished thrash to its arsenal. The most intense cut on Revengeance is finale "Earthenguard," on which Conan stretches its muscle-bound doom-crunch into 12 minutes of epic overload. (Wed., 12mid, Dirty Dog Bar)