Interview by Kris Peters
Sometimes the best brand of heavy metal is the one that follows a straight line. While bands of the modern era generally tend to mix a plethora of styles and genres into each recording, there are still the die-hard old-school metalheads that subscribe to the old adage of if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it.
Veteran MidWest thrash metal outfit Conquest are one of those bands.
Over successive previous albums, Conquest have flown the flag high for old-school metal, with crushing guitars and blinding speed punctuating their material. So it comes as no surprise then that their latest album Paradox - out now - is cut from the same cloth.
More of the same, if you will, only better.
Vocalist/guitarist Derrick Brumley joined HEAVY to talk us through more, starting with the reaction to Paradox thus far.
"So far really good," he enthused. "I mean, we're pretty blessed on how much attention it's getting these days. It's awesome. When you're a musician, and you're an artist at it, you hope for the best. Expect the worst, but keep pushing for the best (laughs)."
We ask him to go deeper into the musical side of Paradox.
"The record Paradox is 16 songs, one is a cover of The Man On The Silver Mountain," he began. "Dio and Richie Blackmore early on was a big inspiration for me, so I was really into that old stuff like that. That's how that song found its way on the record. Just something I always wanted to record and that kind of spawned the whole thing. And then for the other tracks, we had a bunch of tunes written for the record, but then COVID hit, and the original drummer had left the band for a little bit because he had major personal issues. He was out of the band, then Lee came in and filled in the next two years - I should say became a member of the band - and just killed it on the drums. He brought this thunder to the songs, so we put all these songs together and ended up with 16 tracks after writing with Lee. It just piled in, next one, next one, and it was really cool and a really diverse record. It's very old school with a little touch of new stuff here and there. I tried to keep the production raw. I don't like overproduced stuff."
In the full interview, Derrick talked more about the songs on Paradox, keeping true to your influences, writing and recording in the studio, the obstacles the band had to overcome in order to finish the album, a bit of history about Conquest, their upcoming show with Burning Witches and more.