CONQUEST OF STEEL – Storm Sword: Rise Of The Dread Queen

Eventually, and with hope of course, all tyrants will fall and true freedom will come for whomever craves it. Many stories of rebellious valor are passed on through tales, chants and even history. Ever since Rock / Metal became a real living reality, Metal and Rock artists made a heavy load of stories, most of them imaginary that surrounds realistic ideas. Most of these stories were created as concept albums. These albums are not ordinary at all; their purpose isn’t that clear as many styles of albums and that fact will always put concept albums beyond any technique of writing.

When the NWOBHM movement took on the concept imagery, it became even more interesting to listen to and feel, even if the albums were not all conception through their length. When new sub-genres emerged in Metal, especially the ones that derived from the classic ones, concept albums started flying through the vast scene like raindrops. The problems started when with the coming flow of concept albums only a portion of those were high quality as the past concepts of the 1970’s and early through mid 1980’s. That is where the English based band from Bradford, Conquest Of Steel comes in. When the guys made their solid purpose by digging into ancient medieval stories, they were able to succeed in creating an absolute masterpiece of captivating Power / Heavy Metal which was solely sustained by the old NWOBHM movement, where literature and the arts meet Heavy Metal and tradition. That is the secret but it is not the only thing. Conquest Of Steel did it right, they made a piece of music, which is hard to come by these days.

Storm Sword: Rise of the Dread Queen is all about the old times where the majestic powers of melody, classy lyrics and the one groundbreaking sound production of true Metal ruled the ongoing scene. With all of these invaluable components of music and creation, come forth add-ons such as bits of progression (not in the most sky-scraping scale such as other Progressive Metal acts). Conquest Of Steel uses the old sound and traditional way of writing to not always keep the usual boundaries of the past. Conquest Of Steel’s material is similar to Maiden’s earliest creations and let’s say also to Savage’s old tunes, yet by making this concept album they entered acoustics harmonies, wonderful vocal duets of Male / Female showdown and mysterious ending when you would least expect, you can call it bending the “rules”.

When Conquest Of Steel wrote about fighting against the evil tyrant, which also gets his own version of things and a not so small presentation, they recollect thoughts and images that made the fictional fight something worth appreciating. This album is not your type of Manowar like strong fitted warriors’ stuff; it bears the feeling as if it was a classic movie of both action and drama. In order to appreciate this creation you must embrace it’s magic and the cunning and creativeness of its creators.

By far, the whole story, on its tracks is marvelous and it’s a bit hard on separating the tracks. Almost every single one of these babies is something to be proud of. However, with all the hardship on making an attempt to single out the stars, here is a go: “Conquest Through Fire and Steel”, “The Prophecy”, “Scourge of the Land”, “Unholy Union”, “Raise Your Fists” and “A People Betrayed”.

Conquest Of Steel’s career has gone over nine years now and nothing seems to stop them. If you want to check out more of their earlier stuff on No Face Records, it’s a worthy check.