Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
A conquered land is one that has been taken by force, the image of desolation, of pillage, fires burning, its people scattered, perhaps laid waste, uncertain if their way of life will ever return, held hostage by the loss and despair and the knowledge that their lives will never be the same again.
It is in the dynamic and beauty of human expression that to conquer is not only associated with butchery and savage destruction, but that it can offer the visual interpretation of swaying someone’s mind and actions to take up your cause, your artistic intent, that to conquer is just another way of gaining someone’s love and appreciation for what you have offered by way of an open armed gesture, the persuasion that your song is the one to swear by.
Death Dealer’s Conquered Lands is not just an album, it has that rare commodity of being considered an epic, the Norse saga perhaps retold through the eyes of 21st Century America, but one that is faithful to the ideas and motifs of a long ago race and people, the feeling of modern warfare and political machinations which reflect our own insidious times in which conquering is the aim of bug business and capitalist venture. Whichever way the album comes to you, the epic endures, and it is all the better for doing so.
The heavy weight roster behind Death Dealer’s latest album, includes Sean Peck on vocals, Stu Marshall on guitar, Steve Bolognese on drums, Mike Lepond on bass and off course the mighty Ross The Boss bringing the whole structure and deep thought together as only he can.
In what has been a particular illuminating year, it is to the subtly and the creative powers of Ross The Boss that he has seen not only overseen his scintillating solo album, Born of Fire, gain attention, but that he brought together a sound in Death Dealer that is both pulsing with dynamite musical explosions and incredibly constructed images, which when combined bring out a sound that is pure metal bliss.
This dynamic shows eagerly, brutally, passionately on tracks such as Every Nation, Running With The Wolves, The Heretic Has Returned, Slay Or Be Slain and the finale of Born To Bear The Crown, the link between the players and the message is undeniable and filled with lusting rage to which Metal portrays in such sweeping movements that it buries itself into the heart of the matter and leaves no stone unturned in its own conviction and resolute nature to conquer all that defy the call of human nature.
Death Dealer’s Conquered Lands is an album of metal class, Ross The Boss delivers where others fear to tread, thrilling, dynamic, boisterous, an album that triumphs.
Ian D. Hall