Chances are, if you’re reading Decibel Mag, you’re a big nerd about something. For San Francisco outfit Sleepbomb, they’re big nerds about movies. The band’s career to this point has been about scoring movies that didn’t have scores, like George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead and, before that, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.
On their latest album, Songs in the Key of Conan, Sleepbomb score a movie that already has a score: 1983’s Conan the Barbarian, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Though the record is heavy and doomy in many places, it’s a film score, so it has its quiet moments too, which is where Sleepbomb drop listeners in today. “A Gift of Crom” is a subdued, dreamy interlude that is easy to get immerse in.
“One of Charlie’s [Hernandez, guitar] favorite tracks, ‘A Gift of Crom’ is a meditative interlude within the chaos and brutality of Conan’s world,” explains bassist/synth player Tim Gotch. “The track begins as he unknowingly stumbles into the king’s barrow, first guitar, then synth, and finally bass and drums. As Conan explores the cave and discovers first the king and then the famed Atlantean sword, Claire Hamard’s haunting clarinet melody drifts in and out.”
Hamard, who departed the band shortly after recording vocals, keys and horns for the album, had this to say:
“In Songs in the Key of Conan, we still find the repetitive and experimental constructions characteristic of Sleepbomb, but with several unusual tracks, very melodic or fundamentally atmospheric, such as ‘A Gift from Crom,’ which add depth and complexity to the piece.
“On this album, we used several wind instruments with Matt Pankuch (we both play the clarinet, and he also plays the saxophone and flute), and we allowed ourselves to improvise over the harmonic base laid down by the guitars to further enhance the untamed aspect of the album – and of the film’s hero!”
You can dig into the new song and its accompanying video (which does not include any Conan the Barbarian movie footage) below. Koolarrrow Records will release the whole album on June 3.
The post Video Premiere: Sleepbomb – ‘A Gift of Crom’ appeared first on Decibel Magazine.