...SIŁA I PIĘKNO MUZYKI TKWIĄ W JEJ RÓŻNORODNOŚCI.



..::OPIS::..

For fans of Gorefest and Cannibal Corpse!
Classic Death Metal recorded at Sunlight Studio by Tomas Skogsberg in 1993.

Konkhra re-issues much sought after debut on LP again and deluxe 2-CD (with all pre-album demos). “Sexual Affective Disorder” is the debut full-length studio album by Danish Death Metal band Konkhra. The album was originally released on Progress Red Labels in July 1993. “Sexual Affective Disorder” was recorded at the now legendary Sunlight Studio in Sweden and produced by Tomas Skogsberg and Konkhra. Konkhra had been roaming the Danish underground scene since the early nineties and steadily increased their fanbase with the “The Vicious Circle” demo from 1990 and the “Malgrowth demo” from 1991, both featured on the 2-CD edition as bonus. Also included is their first official release: the “Stranded” EP from 1992.

The music on “Sexual Affective Disorder” might be described as old school Death Metal mixed with technical Thrash Metal elements. The vocals on the album are influenced by the high pitched sneer/deep guttural growl Carcass vocal style, so a clear Death Metal approach. The technical playing is used to keep the songs exciting all the way through the album. Songs like “Center Of The Flesh”, “Blindfolded”, “Chaos To Climb” and “Empty Frames” simply blow one away every time. The addition of samples in some songs also give the album a great atmosphere.

The production is raw and not too polished but clean enough to be able to hear what´s going on, that great Sunlight Studio sound. Listening to “Sexual Affective Disorder” is always a pleasure.




Konkhra are arguably the biggest Danish death metal export, next to Illdisposed (with respect to Iniquity, Invocator, and Exmortem). The band's debut full length came out in 1993 and it was called Sexual Affective Disorder - it follows the 1992 EP Stranded which, if you ask me, muddy production aside - was a respectable offering of Death-worshipping madness (ditto to the preceding demos, both of which were better than Stranded) and established the band as capable songwriters at an early stage, even if their style wasn't exactly *unique*. Furthermore, later releases like 1997's Weed Out the Weak would implement more groove and a Chaos A.D.-esque post-thrash element into their music...and again, while a bit boneheaded - it's a solid and enjoyable album on its own, but Sexual Affective Disorder is kind of a "sweet spot" in this way and easily the best Konkhra album ever, according to me.

The band has managed to differentiate themselves a bit here by introducing a slower, churning groove into an established death metal sound - while still maintaining a hefty amount of speed and tastefully implemented blast beats, which helps the songs flow and provides a sense of maturity and creativity to the songs that was lacking on prior material, as well as a sense of musicianship and quality songwriting that was arguably lacking on later efforts. The result is a sound that feels familiar, yet distinct. It combines the cold, calculating virtuosity of Death, with the pummeling brutality of Bolt Thrower, and the dark, feral finesse of (mid-period) Carcass with the slow grind of classic Obituary. It's well-executed, chock full of catchy riffs and powerful grooves, both used tastefully and complimenting themselves. Tracks like "The Dying Art" and especially "Thoughts Abandoned", with it's savage riffwork, deserve to be labelled as true death metal classics up there with "Chopped in Half" and "Pull the Plug". There's also a strong hardcore influence - something not many bands were openly experimenting with yet in '93, as heard on tracks like the pounding "Lucid Dreams". The production is also fantastic, it feels very full and perfectly captures this heavy, bludgeoning death metal machine. No surprise considering this was handled by Sunlight Studio's own Tomas Skogsberg himself.

There are two vocalists/guitarists here, similar to Carcass' early work - a deep death grunt performed by Andreas Lundemark, and a raspy, Jeff Walker-esque growl performed by Claus Vedal. I like the way they mixed the styles here, because a lot of care was seemingly taken into letting each vocalist get his time to shine. You have tracks like "Center of the Flesh" that utilize alternating styles, and "The Dying Art" which is lead by Andreas's deep growling, with Claus providing backups. This is changed around on "Blindfolded", where Claus' snarl leads the way while Andreas backs him up. It's cool because it keeps the mix from feeling like it favors one vocalist over the other. The lyrics, by the way, are surprisingly pretty cool and well written, covering themes of trauma, depression, lust, and anger while never feeling overly violent (well, except for closer "Empty Frames" - which happens to be the best lyrics on the album). The album also makes clever use of samples, like Stranded before it (though I don't think Illdisposed ended up parodying any of these).

Of course, it should go without saying...this naturally isn't a sound that will likely change the world for any corn-fed death freak...Konkhra weren't reinventing the wheel, they're just a well-formed spoke - we've all heard similar sounding stuff. But ultimately, only idiots and clueless posers would expect those things in this context, so no harm done. If you're looking to get in on this band, don't be shy and check out Hammerheart's 2021 2-CD reissue, which comes with a bonus disc featuring Stranded along with the Malgrowth and The Vicious Circle demos, including classics like "Lustration of the Need", the mighty "Vicious Circle", and "Day-Break". The cool thing about this is that all tracks are unique to their respective releases, making it feel like kind of a double album of sorts - 93 minutes of classic, Danish death fuckin' metal - how could you go wrong with that?

Enigmatech



..::TRACK-LIST::..

CD 1 - Sexual Affective Disorder:
1. Center Of The Flesh 4:18
2. Seasonal Affective Disorder 5:09
3. The Dying Art 4:44
4. Visually Intact 4:08
5. Evilution (Exordium Expired) 3:47
6. Lucid Dreams 3:44
7. Blindfolded 5:24
8. Thoughts Abandoned 4:32
9. Chaos To Climb 2:56
10. Empty Frames 5:13


CD 2 - Bonus:
Stranded EP
1. Time Will Destroy 5:41
2. Day-Break 3:26
3. Stranded 5:42

Malgrowth Demo
4. The Dead Moon 1:25
5. Black Sun 4:50
6. Lustration Of The Need 2:25
7. Spread Around 6:30
8. Deathwish 5:24

The Vicious Circle Demo
9. Web Of Nemesis 4:40
10. Vicious Circle 3:15
11. Hunger 4:09
12. Living Savages 1:55

Recorded at Sunlight Studio, Sweden, July/August 1993.
Remastered by Tue Madsen in Antfarm Studio, Denmark 2021



..::OBSADA::..

Drums - Johnny Nielsen (tracks: 1-1 to 1-10), Jon Clausen (tracks: 2-1 to 2-12)
Bass - Anders Lundemark (tracks: 2-9 to 2-12), Lars Schmidt (tracks: 1-1 to 1-10), Martin Kristensen (tracks: 2-1 to 2-8)
Guitar, Vocals - Anders Lundemark, Claus Vedel

Samples - Anders Lundemark (tracks: 1-1 to 1-10), Sheriff (27) (tracks: 1-1 to 1-10)



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyIx5B-rW_M



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