There are plenty of bands you could say “doesn’t sound like anybody else” but nobody really comes close to claiming that definition quite like Confessor.
Confessor truly are in a class and genre by themselves. At a foundational level, they are a doom metal band. One of the early influences they cite is the band Trouble. In fact, they released an EP in 1992 with two Trouble covers on it (including “The Last Judgement”):
But I am getting ahead of myself.
No other doom metal group (even the ones that consider themselves “progressive” doom like Pallbearer) went the direction Confessor did. They play a very unique blend of technical metal, math rock and doom metal. They might be the only band you could label as “technical doom”.
They basically took the heavy, sludgy riffs of doom metal, then threw them into a blender with lots of tricky time changes, start/stop rhythms and jarring transitions. I’d claim they invented the djent style of music that bands like Meshuggah and Animals as Leaders made popular in the late 90s and early 2000s…but they were way ahead of the game because they started crafting this sound in 1988!
On top of all that complex music the singer, Scott Jeffreys, sings in a high pitched wail! The complete opposite of the the typical low pitched growling that is associated with most doom metal.
They had the embyros of this sound from the very beginning. You can see them performing “Uncontrolled” at some sort of park in Houston in 1988:
“Uncontrolled” was eventually recorded in the studio for Confessor’s debut album Condemned, released by Earache Records in 1991, which is today’s pick!
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One of the things I absolutely love about Condemned is the production. The very dry and clean sound with great separation means you can hear every instrument. The bass and drums in particular sound incredible, especially for an early 90s metal album where drums would sometimes sound mushy and bass would be non-existent.
They made a music video for the title track of Condemned which is where Confessor first crossed my radar. I saw it on Headbanger’s Ball and was never the same:
Listen to those drums! The beat is all over the place. Oddly syncopated double bass patterns, precise fills all around the kit and everything peppered with oddly placed choked cymbal hits. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing back in 1991 and I still can’t believe it today. Steve Shelton sounds like some sort of wizard and is a complete virtuoso.
In fact, he recorded some songs solo for an instructional video in the mid-2000s that really highlight all the tricky beats he is playing. “Condemned” is one of the songs from that video:
That performance is out of this world!
The album starts out with one of my favorites “Alone” which sets the template for the rest of the record. The first 10 seconds or so where the band plays the unison figures before finally settling into a beat completely floors me:
“Collapse into Dispair” is another amazing tune. Super-heavy riffs, wild yelping vocals and drum fills for days! I say “Yes!” to everything they do here:
If you like these songs, you’ll love the whole record. Its 40 minutes chocked full of songs like this that will leave your head spinning.
Confessor toured behind Condemned as part of Earache’s “Gods of Grind” tour with Carcass, Entombed and Cathedral. Here they are performing “Condemned” on that tour:
Unfortunately, that tour didn’t bring them to wider success or fame. They broke up soon after. They have been regulated to the underground metal scene, which is unfortunate because they deserve much wider recognition.
They did reform with mostly their original lineup in the mid 2000s (missing only Ivan Colon because he passed away in 2002). They still sounded great, as evidenced by this live recording of “Prepare Yourself” from 2005:
They put out one full length album after reforming called Unraveled. It is really good, but doesn’t reach the heights of Condemned which stands as a timeless classic.
As a bonus song for this week’s pick I’ll also note that drummer Steve Shelton and guitarist Cary Rowells also formed a short-lived instrumental band called Loincloth (with Pen Rollings of Breadwinner fame) that is also worth checking out…but it is still no Condemned:
Note that unfortunately Condemned is not on Amazon Music! Sorry about that!
