Words by: Dan Spizzirri
Out 24 October, 2025
Via Nuclear Blast Records
As I rest back in my chair, I am admiring the front cover of Conjurers latest album Unself; its beautiful. From what I can interpret, it’s an abstract depiction of two individuals, (one in the light and one in the dark), that appear to be blending into each other. My thoughts wander around metaphors of struggle with the good and bad inside of us all. Truth be known, Conjurer is a band name I have heard for a while now, but I have never got around to listening to any of their material. I know they are a heavy band but a lot of the stylistically applicable giveaways are noticeably absent in this album’s immediate visuals.
Good form! Very creative! But I digress… hit the play button I shall.
It opens with the title track Unself that is a gentle strum of an acoustic guitar, a little way in a soft and sorrowful male voice humble states ‘This world is not my own, I’m just passing through’. I can’t help but grin because I am certain that this is merely the calm before the storm. Sooner rather than later, a menacing electric guitar feed back subtly finds its way in and grows with volume, then the album explodes to life with full metal ferocity and a deep chesty growl!
The next track All Apart continues the mood of the introduction, it emotionally holds you with a mid-pace and leads the listener with a groove that dives up and down while the vocals absolutely unleash! This razor voice screech drops into a soaring chorus, well done! There is so much flavour to their playing style already, this song is a journey that has an array of changes that all complement each other, and oh the heaviness near the end!
The next track There is no Warmth confronts you immediately. Not too much of an increase in pace but a much more aggressive flex. And again, the song is really taking you somewhere and the musicianship here is suburb; the twists, the turns, the way the off-time beats drop in. It’s like a huge auditory playing field where everything stretches out, but always falls into place.
The Searing Glow is next on the musical agenda, it’s unapologetically aggressive and pretty heavy on the ‘Jent. A small breath of mellow air mid song deceptively drags you to the massive ending, enormously heavy!
Something continuous about this album is the vastness of its sound and style, the production is excellent and a great amount of attention has clearly been paid to the song writing. If I had to put a word on it, I would say that it is ‘theatrical’ … yes. The songs have a delivery that is akin to a grand theatre show, where the broad spectrum of raw emotion is on display.
This album has a total of eight tracks and the remainder equally does not disappoint. I would also recommend the tracks Let Us Live and Hang Them In Your Head. The music here captures performative aggression by clearly seasoned musicians exactly how it should be; I am suitably impressed. Fantastic album.
8.5/10
