THE DUNGBEETLE CONSPIRACY

track-list:
Calva Sorix
A Poem To The Gate Of Hell
In Circles
Cries Of The Loons
Crystal Man
The Antlers
Whispers – Interlude
The Grief Unseen
Hangman’s Game
By The Fire – Interlude
The Dungbeetle Trilogy

The Dungbeetle Conspiracy are:
Serge Morattel – vocals, guitar
Jeremy Moret – guitar
Adrien Hirt – bass
Pascal Jean – drums

Geneva based heavy alternative rock outfit The Dungbeetle Conspiracy have released their self titled debut album via Urgence Disk Records, delivering eleven tracks built around heavy guitars, strong melodies and the darker atmosphere of nineties alternative rock.
The Dungbeetle Conspiracy presents a sound that draws noticeably from the Seattle scene, particularly the weight of Alice In Chains, the muscular drive of Soundgarden and the more direct rock energy of Pearl Jam.
Those influences are clearly present, but the album does not simply attempt to reproduce the past.
Instead, the Swiss quartet use them as the foundation for a heavier and more contemporary approach of their own.
One of the album’s strongest characteristics is the contrast between abrasive intensity and melody.
The guitars carry considerable weight, while the rhythm section gives the songs a powerful and often urgent foundation.
At the same time, melodic passages repeatedly open up the darker material, preventing the record from becoming one dimensional.
The lyrical direction follows a similarly personal path, exploring shadows, struggle and resilience.
That emotional tension fits naturally with the music, where moments of heaviness are often balanced by passages that feel more spacious and reflective.
The band’s unusual name also reflects that sense of persistence.
The dung beetle, pushing its burden forward despite the resistance in its path, serves as a metaphor for the determination to carry a creative vision as far as possible.
Much of the album’s unified character can be traced back to vocalist and guitarist Serge Morattel, who wrote, recorded and mixed the record at REC Studio in Geneva.
Together with guitarist Jeremy Moret, bassist Adrien Hirt and drummer Pascal Jean, he has created an album that retains the grit associated with alternative rock while giving the material enough clarity and power to feel firmly rooted in the present.
There is a rawness running through ‘The Dungbeetle Conspiracy‘, but it is never careless.
The heavier passages are tightly controlled, the melodies are given room to develop, and the production allows both sides of the band’s identity to coexist without one overwhelming the other.
That balance gives the album much of its appeal.
It can be dark without becoming oppressive, melodic without losing its edge, and clearly inspired by the alternative rock of the nineties without sounding trapped inside that decade.
With their self titled debut, The Dungbeetle Conspiracy have delivered a remarkably focused first album, one that combines the grit of grunge, the force of heavy rock and a strong melodic instinct into a cohesive eleven track statement.