REVIEW: CONQUEST “Paradox” – A Masterful Heavy Metal Album

CONQUEST out of St. Louis, MO have been slugging it out in the Metal world since the very late 80’s and early 90’s. You can think them for keeping true Metal and Thrash alive, even if it’s been more underground. They’ve had styles that venture into Thrash, Power, but mostly just straight up Heavy Metal.

Derrick Brumley has covered the vocals throughout the bands history so their overall “sound” from the vocals has remained consistent. I don’t own every release of their library but I’m fairly familiar with their work and have always been impressed. Let’s face it, they started in a time when Classic Metal was fading out in the early 90’s. As the scene grew in Europe and other parts of the world, it remained difficult for bands like this to succeed in the United States. Long-story short, CONQUEST has never really gotten the exposure and attention they deserve.

Their new album “Paradox” is a great place to start if you’re just getting into the band. You could argue it’s their pinnacle moment, it’s 16 epic tracks of Metal that show you the band has many different sides to them. While most of the album contains massive anthems, they surprise you with songs like “In The Heavens”, “Babylon America” and “Last Goodbye” that show a more melodic side of the band.

“Walking Dead” and “The Writing’s On The Wall” are the first two singles that are good representations of the album. Both lean into Power Metal with some modern twists. They’ve got influences from the NWOBHM, but they have a little of the “Pantera’ groove Metal in their sound as well. A couple of my personal favs are “Dying To Live” and “Killing Time”, which are also a couple of their heaviest. I think this is when they’re at their best when they to the slightly uptempo stuff, gang vocals, blistering solos and big choruses. You WILL however hear them branch out from their roots on several songs.

While there are many songs that stand alone on their own very well, the entire album has an overall “theme” and “concept” that makes the album worth listening from beginning to end. This is essentially their “Destoyer” or “Operation Mindcrime”. I also think of Lizzy Borden’s “Master Of Disguise”, not so much musically, but more in the overall feel and story-telling.

I will end with this, fans of Classic and Power Metal, this is a must-have album. I HOPE Metal fans from all genres will check this one of, if for no other reason the writing on the album and the way it’s constructed. I personally like that the production is more raw and real, it’s not as “slick” as the European Metal, but that’s fine by me, it gives the music more personality.

I have to give this one a 9.5 out of 10 “Flaming Fists”. You nearly get 2 albums worth of great quality music, including a stellar cover of Rainbow’s “Man On The Silver Mountain”. I thank them personally for keeping the Metal torch lit in these times of darkness.