Conan played Middle East Upstairs – 5/9

Liverpool doombringers Conan sold out the Middle East with support from Phoenix’s Thra and locals Glacier.

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Conan wear the tag “caveman battle doom” proudly. It’s the summative descriptor on their Wikipedia page; it resides in their Instagram bio; they even print it on their shirts. Fair enough, cause it does get straight to the heart of what the U.K. power trio are all about: a strain of sludge-y doom metal that relies primarily on brute strength, swinging riffs like broadswords. Neither speed nor intricacy are the name of their game, and sometimes that simple, stifling brand of heaviness is just what the proverbial doctor ordered.

The band rolled into town last week to dispense their deafening prescription to an eager sell-out crowd at the Middle East Upstairs, sating the masses with an hour-plus deluge of low-end frequencies spanning their previous decade of LPs. No frills here – not even a change of hue in the blood-red stage LEDs – just a band that channeled a sort of elegance in its minimal-maximalism.

Tourmates Thra provided direct support, serving up a too-short set that branched into death-doom territory with texture and atmosphere to spare. I’ll definitely be keeping an ear out for their debut full-length, which drops via Translation Loss in July.

First but not lease were Boston’s instrumental post-metal crushers Glacier, whose virtues I’ve extolled here several times before. Very possibly the loudest band in town, definitely among the best.

Scroll below for photos from the whole night.