San Francisco cinematic doom/drone/post-rock group Sleepbomb’s Songs in the Key of Conan is out today (5 June 2026) on vinyl, CD, and digital formats via koolarrow records (run by Faith No More’s Billy Gould).
“‘Songs in the Key of Conan’ is the culmination of a complicated eleven-year journey for Sleepbomb,” the band reflects. “Originally conceived as the next step in our evolution beyond improvised silent film scores, the choice of John Milius’ 1983 classic Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle ‘Conan the Barbarian’ was inspired.”
“Over the course of the first five years, our music for ‘Conan the Barbarian’ developed from two hours of messy improvisation into a taut, fully written original score; full of driving percussion, soaring synths and dynamic guitars. During the same period, we also evolved from a loose ensemble playing for fun in beer gardens several times a year to a fixed lineup selling out movie theaters across the San Francisco Bay Area. ‘Conan’ is in many ways is Sleepbomb’s signature score.”
Stream the album Songs in the Key of Conan on your preferred digital platforms HERE.
Order Songs in the Key of Conan (vinyl, CD, and digital), plus band merch on Bandcamp.
A record release show took place on June 4th at Bottom of the Hill in SF. Sleepbomb will play tonight (June 5th) at the Arlene Francis Center in Santa Rosa [Tickets at the door].
Sleepbomb crafts full, original scores for genre films, settling on a drone influenced style of doom metal while incorporating other textures to suit each film’s distinct atmosphere. Their goal is to re-contextualize the experience of classic films through immersive, reinterpretative sound. Historically conceived as a live project, Sleepbomb has been performing their scores across the West Coast of the US since 2003.
Musically, the band ranges from heavy doom riffs to dreamy shoegaze, dark soundscapes punctuated with shimmering guitar and ethereal vocals. Originally stylistically close to a chaotic version of Throbbing Gristle vs Black Sabbath, Sleepbomb has been exploring experimental sounds and forms throughout their career, guided by the band’s love of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Coil, Neurosis, Sunn 0))), Ulver and Swans, among others.
Sleepbomb joined Bill Gould’s koolarrow records and Belgium’s Consouling Sounds in 2023 for the release of their score for the classic 1920 German Expressionist film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. They were overjoyed to repeat this collaboration for their 2025 release of The Sleeping Dead: excerpts from an alternate score for George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead.
Likely, without Covid, Songs in the Key of Conan, the new album, would have come out in 2021 and sounded very different given the pre-pandemic lineup of Sleepbomb. The album’s path was further delayed by licensing issues that halted live performances of the film and internal scheduling shifts. With the addition of Claire Hamard in 2022, Conan was finally recorded at Earhammer Studios in summer 2024 with producer Greg Wilkinson, alongside longtime live collaborators Matt Pankuch (horns) and K.R. Morrison (percussion). Tracking wrapped in about a week with minimal setbacks. Claire amicably departed the band in 2025, but her performances remain an integral part of the album. Mixing resumed in late 2025 and moved quickly, finally bringing Songs in the Key of Conan to its awaited completion.
Track Listing:
01. Forged in Steel [Listen | Watch]
02. Blood on the Snow [Listen | Watch]
03. My Father’s Sword
04. Wheel of Pain
05. A Gift of Crom [Listen | Watch]
06. The Price of Knowledge
07. Two Fools Who Laugh at Death
08. The Serpent’s Eye
09. All the Gods Cannot Sever Us
10. Fangs of the Serpent
11. Ascending the Steps
12. The Tree of Woe
13. Fear the Night [Listen | Watch]
14. The Pyre
15. Live Forever
16. Temple on Fire
Album Credits:
All music written and performed by Sleepbomb.
Produced by Sleepbomb and Greg Wilkinson.
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Greg Wilkinson at Earhammer Studios.
—Sleepbomb—
Charles Hernandez: guitars
Robert Johnson: drums, percussion
Tim Gotch: bass, synths
—Contributing Musicians—
Claire Hamard – vocals, clarinet, keyboards
Matt Pankuch – horns, percussion
K.R. Morrison – percussion
Sleepbomb:
https://www.sleepbomb.com
https://linktr.ee/sleepbombsf
https://www.facebook.com/Sleepbomb
https://www.instagram.com/sleepbombsf
https://sleepbomb.bandcamp.com
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4JLjyliVluKOjAuGNOhhtU
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm9fuXjn9a1CmaA8LZM4jng
Koolarrow Records:
https://koolarrow.com
https://www.facebook.com/KoolarrowRecords
Copyright © 2026 Qabar – Extreme Music PR, All rights reserved.
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