### Konkhra: Sexual affective disorder

#### 06/07/10 || InquisitorGeneralis

It is no secret there is a lot of hate on this site for bands that hail from that cute little slab of northern Europe known as Denmark. I have none of those feelings though. Denmark’s Konkhra have been pumping out quality death metal since the early 1990’s. Fellow staffer Daemonomania introduced me to the band’s quality 1999 release “Weed out the weak” which I immediately became a fan of. After some hard searching on Das Internet I found the band’s older releases and as soon as I got my ears on “Sexual Affective Disorder” I was blown away. This is groovy, mid-paced death with just the right amount of thrash thrown in to give things a little zip.

This album, like the band itself, seems to have been looked over in favor of more popular, well-known bands of the same style like Grave, Entombed, and the more recent death/thrash crossover bands like Hatesphere and The Haunted. Well, Konkhra fucken rule and it’s about time somebody told your punk ass why. Konkhra toss in enough variety and technique to make an entire record of mid-paced death metal exciting. That is an accomplishment in itself. Songs like “The dying art” and “Blindfolded” toss in just enough extra flair to make them stand out from the normal death metal pack. Not only do they stand out…the fucken rule, especially the end to “The dying art” The blasting on here is a bit weak, but other than that Lars Schmidt does a solid job drumming and for an early 90’s record the drum sound, and overall production, is pretty damn good.

Normally, I get bored with albums like this about halfway through but something about “Sexually relaxing massages” keeps me interesting all the way through until the happy ending that is “Empty frames”. Anders’ vocals are pretty guttural, old-school death style and fit in perfectly with the raw sound of the album. There is not too much guitar wankery but the riffs are solid and there are some interesting, jazzy parts speckled in from time to time. While we are not talking Nile quality musicianship here, this version of Konkhra certainly knew what the fuck they were doing with their instruments.

If you enjoy Teh Classics like Grave, early Entombed, Monstrosity, Deicide, or Obituary you will definitely find something to enjoy in “Sexually Affective Disorder”; as I said earlier think classic Swedeath mixed with thrash and a little touch of groove. In this case, the score reflects a sum that is more than the whole of its parts. While the individual pieces of “SAD” are nothing too spectacular, combined they made an enjoyable, listenable, and quality death metal record. I am now a certified Konkhra fan, bring me more Danish metal… I demand it!

- Information
- Released: 1993
- Label: Progress Red
- Website: www.Konkhra.com
- Band
- Anders Lundemark: guitar, vocals
- Claus Vedel: guitar
- Lars Schmidt: bass
- Johny Nielsen: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Center Of The Flesh
- 02. Seasonal Affective Disorder
- 03. The Dying Art
- 04. Visually Intact
- 05. Evilution
- 06. Lucid Dreams
- 07. Blindfolded
- 08. Thoughts Abandoned
- 09. Chaos To Climb
- 10. Empty Frames