Review: Rannoch – Conflagrations

Style: Progressive Metal, Death Metal, Deathcore (Mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Black Crown Initiate, Persefone, Kardashev
Review by: Christopher
Country: UK
Release date: 21 July 2023

There are two main schools of progressive death metal: the Opethian school which prioritises prog and is happy to utilise clean vocals, and the school that takes its cue from Death themselves. The latter of the two has, like much of the death metal genre, largely foregone singing. And yet this branch of progressive death metal has begun a concerted push into the realms of clean vocals. Starting with genre titans like Black Crown Initiate and Scar Symmetry, and carried along by bands like An Abstract Illusion and recent Obscura outgrowth, Obsidious, beautiful passages of singing now regularly pierce even the most brutal prog death, often to wonderful effect. 

Despite moments of clean singing peppered throughout their discography, I wouldn’t have lumped in Rannoch with the bands I mentioned above. In spite of tracks like “The Devoured” from their sophomore, Reflections Upon Darkness, something about Rannoch’s forays into clean vocals never struck me as being a central facet of their sound. However, on Conflagrations much has changed since 2020; vocalist Ian Gilling has improved his vocal prowess, and the group’s attitude toward composition has evolved.

From the distorted clean vocals over moody synth that end opening number “Degenerate Era” in Devin Townsend fashion, you know this is going to be a different experience. The clean bridge on “Prism Black” is positively Opethian, and Gilling’s delivery of “Through the astral plane we’ll fall” is goosebump inducing, while the clean chorus on the title track reminds me of the Alice-in-Chains-meets-death-metal blend of The Odious. As much as Gilling has improved, the real reason the cleans work so much better here than on Reflections Upon Darkness is down to the way in which Rannoch refract Gilling’s vocals through a compositional prism, incorporating them in the flow of tracks far more naturally. 

But does Conflagrations tick the usual progressive death metal boxes? Unequivocally, yes. The 8-string riffs are seismically heavy; the machine-gun-fire blast beats of Dan Presland (ex-Ne Obliviscaris, Black Lava) are utterly relentless; and the lead guitar work is simply jaw-dropping—Gilling’s blend of melody and shred cycles through so many techniques and shifts in expression that my brain can hardly keep up. Lead single “Daguerreotype” veers into tech death territory with its complex riffing and another of those endlessly cool solos. Gilling’s harshes are enormous but they have variation, too, and he often pitches them, most notably on “Threads”, where his vocals are more akin to Textures’ Daniël de Jongh or Josh Middleton of Sylosis than your average monotone grunts. 

Rannoch play with other flavours across Conflagrations: the intro of the title track combines atmospheric guitar, ethereal synth and tension-mounting strings to form a post-rock crescendo, while the rest of the song lumbers menacingly along like Yeats’ proverbial rough beast slouching towards Bethlehem. Meanwhile, “Earth-Recycle”—which forms something of a palette cleanser between the bulk of the album and its gargantuan finale—consists of an eerie ambient motif and adds a trip-hop drumbeat and sinister distorted vocal sounds, all recalling the likes of Nine Inch Nails’ Ghosts more than your average progressive death metal. 

But finally, we have to talk about Conflagrations’ crown jewel: the seventeen-minute closing epic, “Threnody to a Dying Star”. Opening with melodic soloing over calm, clean-picked chords, Gilling comes in with the cleans and rolls with them for the entire song—there are no harsh vocals on this track. From there, the track continues to evolve through a range of instrumental sections: wandering pinch-harmonic-laden riffs over Presland’s Preslanding (that’s a technical term), atmospheric sections of swelling synth chords, chorus-drenched anthemic riffs, to Gilling’s return to reprise “Degenerate Earth” over pensive cello and hollowed out piano. “Threnody to a Dying Star” would be an impressive closer to any album, but to end such a thunderously heavy progressive death metal record in such a fashion is a genuinely ambitious swing.

I can only level one criticism at Conflagrations, which is that it’s very loud. Don’t get me wrong, I, like many of you, am going to give myself tinnitus playing my prog death too loud, but everything in Rannoch’s mix is at a ten, apart from the drums which are at a Spinal Tap eleven (I get it, if I had Dan Presland on my album, I’d want to show him off too). This is more noticeable in the ostensibly softer sections where you’d expect a bit more dynamic range. Everything else about the mix and master is great, but the sonic onslaught can be a bit hard on the old ear drums. 

Unbound by orthodoxy, Rannoch have allowed themselves to create a work that’s not just brilliant, but also genuinely progressive, cementing them as part of a vanguard of underground genre luminaries pushing at the hard edges of progressive death metal. Every track on Conflagrations has an enormity and portent that’s genuinely impressive to behold, from the filthy riffs and frenetic soloing to those gossamer atmospheres and astounding melodies. The progressive death underground spoiled us in 2022; it’s been less generous this year. Until now.

Recommended tracks: Prism Black, Daguerreotype, Threnody to a Dying Star
You may also like: Obsidious, An Abstract Illusion, Lamentations, Deathbringer, Caratucay
Final verdict: 8.5/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives Page

Label: Willowtip Records – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website

Rannoch is:
– Ian Gilling (guitars, vocals, synths, electronics)
– Richard Page (guitars)
– Paul Lloyd (bass)
– Dan Presland (drums)