I am old enough to remember when the UK ruled the roost in terms of heavy music with the NWOBHM (and in particular Iron Maiden) conquering the world. But then the pendulum swung towards the States, and there it stayed for the next few decades. However, with the advent of Rugby’s Conjurer and their 2018 debut album Mire, the compass is once again pointing to Great Britain and their third album, Unself is making that pull even stronger. A nine track monolith that pushes an already inquisitive band into new territory, Conjurer have produced an album that positions them centrally in the world of heavy music.

A good introduction can set the scene for an album and increasing anticipation for what’s to come, and opening track ‘Unself’ throws listener into a hex. Featuring a lone voice and guitar, it creates an intimate, confessional air, and while these are themes that will echo throughout the album, it doesn’t really prepare us for the skull crushing kick that occurs when the band arrive at the halfway point. However, it perfectly encapsulates the duality of conjurer; the contrast between light and shade, the lithe and the heavy, and the tender vocals and the callous heartlessness. These opposites will reflect and refract constantly, making Unself the musical equivalent of walking through a hall of mirrors as sound is filtered like light through a prism. However, it’s in the realms of heaviness where Conjurer are most at home and the lithe sections that pepper songs such as ‘There Is No Warmth’ only serve to make the heavy sections all the more weighty. The overall aesthetic of this album is one of the large; many of these songs create a feeling of something so huge that it can barely be comprehended; it’s a hulking brutalist monstrosity that towers over the listener, blocking out all light and making them feel slight and insignificant in its shade.

While Unself is a dark and discombobulating affair, an album that feels impervious to sunlight, there’s also a catharsis to be found in these tracks, a kind of primal scream therapy buried in ‘Let Us Live’ that’s strangely soothing despite (or maybe because) of its abrasive, caustic edge. Such is the emotional force of these nine tracks that you might feel a little drained on reaching final track ‘This World Is Not My Home’ but also cleansed (that duality again), and while Unself is not always an easy listen, it’s always rewarding.

• Unself is released via Nuclear Blast Records on 24th October 2025.
• Official Website | Facebook | Instagram | X | YouTube Channel

Track List:

1. Unself
2. All Apart
3. There Is No Warmth
4. The Searing Glow
5. A Plea
6. Let Us Live
7. Hang Them In Your Head
8. Foreclosure
9. This World Is Not My Home