Conquest
Of Steel
Conquest Of Steel is one
of the greatest and one of my favorite British metal bands. The way they
play heavy metal can't leave in apathy any true lover of this sound, not
only because their compositions are great, but because above all it comes
straight from their hearts! So, let's see what they told us...
1. CONGRATULATIONS FOR “CONQUEST OF STEEL”!
IT’S AN INCREDIBLE ALBUM!
2. WHAT HAPPENED TO CONQUEST OF STEEL SINCE THE
RELEASE OF YOUR PREVIOUS 12’’ SPLIT?
We released the split 12” which picked up
some good reviews and then decided to start writing for the album, no face
records had said they were interested in releasing a full length and we
thought it was time. Unfortunately for us it took a lot longer than we
expected to get the material ready and the album was then subject to all
the usual delays.
3. WELL, THE THING WITH YOUR MUSIC IS THAT I CAN’T
POINT OUT ANY FAVORITE TRACKS… I MEAN, I HONESTLY, EQUALLY LIKE ALL 9 TRACKS
AND THAT’S SOMETHING AMAZING AND EXTRAORDINARY… USUALLY WE LIKE A FEW SONGS
FROM EACH ALBUM. SO, WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH YOU?
Well we like them all too! No seriously there
were a few extra tracks written but we decided against including them for
fear of diluting the metal.
4. YOUR SOUND IS RAW, AGGRESSIVE AND ABOVE ALL
CLASSIC HEAVY METAL A SOUND THAT ISN’T TREATED WITH MUCH RESPECT LATELY
I THINK. WHY DO YOU THINK THIS HAPPENS? FURTHERMORE, I HAVE THE SENSE THAT
THERE ARE A FEW HAND NUMBERED BANDS THAT ARE TRUE AND HONEST WITH THEIR
MUSIC. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO COMMENT ON THAT?
The sound these days is too polished and commercial
for our tastes, when I hear guitars I want them to be dirty not sparkling,
save that for the charts. As for the honesty rest assured Conquest are
true not Nu.
5. IF A METALHEAD CAME TO YOU, ASKING YOU TO DESCRIBE
CONQUEST OF STEEL’S SOUND, WHAT WOULD YOU TELL HIM? WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES
AND WHAT THE DRAWBACKS?
Blood, Sweat and Heavy Metal!! There are no
disadvantages to sounding like this, the sound of the steel and the music
of metal rise above all others (which is an advantage).
6. IT’S TIME FOR YOUR LYRICS… WHICH ARE THE TOPICS
THAT ATTRACT YOU AND INTRIGUE YOU TO TALK ABOUT? TELL US SOME GENERAL THINGS
ABOUT THEM?
We try to sing about epic subjects, metal
should lift you from the mundane and into the realms of the gods and that’s
difficult if you’re singing about your dinner. Our favourite subject
matter is the glory of metal and our defence of it.
7. TELL ME A COUPLE OF THINGS ABOUT THE ARTWORK.
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR IT? DO YOU THINK THAT KIND OF ARTWORK IS THE IDEAL
FOR THE KIND OF MUSIC YOU PLAY?
The lady who does our artwork is called Dee
Myers and she is a phenomenal artist, we tell her what we want (severed
heads, blood, fire, skulls etc) and a rough concept, and works on the finished
piece. The album is the third piece of art she’s done for us and
they just keep getting better.
8. HMM…WHY DO YOU USE THE SYMBOL OF CHAOS? I MEAN
THE ARROWS THAT HEAD TOWARDS DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS…
I know what you mean, I’m afraid it’s not
symbolic of the chaotic nature of our music, or a deliberate parallel between
the dominating force of metal and the irresistible force of entropy in
the universe, but it does make an excellent ‘O’.
9. I SUPPOSE NO FACE RECORDS BELONGS TO YOU. SO,
WHAT’S GOING ON WITH THIS LABEL? DOES IT ONLY EXIST IN ORDER TO PROMOTE
CONQUEST OF STEEL OR DO YOU PLAN TO SIGN OR HELP OTHER BANDS?
The label isn’t really ours the first release
was a band called Mathias, then our split 12” and our album they have a
full length from Evanesce and another album from Mathias planed for March/April
this year. As for new signings you’d have to ask them.
10. WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE UK RIGHT NOW? RECENTLY
I’VE SEEN WAY TOO MANY INCREDIBLE BANDS POPPING OUT… MOST OF WHICH BELONG
TO THE CLASSIC HEAVY/POWER METAL, LIKE FOR EXAMPLE POWER QUEST OR INTENSE,
SO WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY ON THAT?
There have always been some really good bands
in Britain but the underground has been dominated by death metal for a
long time. Both these bands have been around for a while, the real change
is that people are beginning to take a bit of notice, and with the support
of sites like powermetal.co.uk and festivals like Bloodstock the Brits
are really beginning to wake up to their hidden talents.
11. ARE THERE ANY OTHER UK BANDS YOU THINK WE
SHOULD CHECK OUT AND WHY?
We did a tour with an Irish power metal band
called Scavenger, this is a band you need to check out. Bands from our
area include Gore, The Enchanted, Bloodstream all worth checking out.
12. DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR LIVE SHOWS OR EVEN
FOR A TOUR ABROAD? IF YOU HAD THE MONEY TO “DESIGN” THE IDEAL LIVE SHOW
AND STAGE FOR CONQUEST OF STEEL, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
We’ve a short tour in Europe coming up in
March and we’ll certainly be hitting foreign shores a bit more this year,
in Britain we’re constantly on tour it’s the only way to be. As for the
ideal stage show, we already have swords, skulls, skeletons and heavy metal
what we need now is explosions, pyros and a drum riser that flies across
the stage spinning, on fire….with flashing lights.. a giant Dio esque dragon
would be pretty cool.
13. WHAT ELEMENTS AND EMOTIONS WOULD YOU LIKE
TO ADD OR REDUCE IN YOUR MUSIC?
The new material (we’re working toward a 7”
for April/May on Killer Metal records) is faster and a little more thrashy
but for the album you can expect the usual mix and we’re hoping to though
in a few more epic tracks like Conquest Of Steel (the song).
14. ARE THERE ANY IDEAS OR ELEMENTS YOU’D LIKE
TO EXPERIMENT WITH?
We are planning a ten minute track which will
feature three vocalists including our very own Mr Durrant, but don’t worry
we’re not about to swathe ourselves in keyboards and female vocals.
15. YOU HAVE THE MOTTO “NONE CAN FACE THE STEEL
AND SURVIVE”…HAHAHA WELL, IF SO, HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO GAIN ANY FANS? YOU’LL
KILL THEM ALL!!! (JUST KIDDING OF COURSE)
It has been a problem and of course it explains
why our audience is getting smaller.
16. IF YOU COULD BE A HISTORICAL FIGURE FOR A
DAY, WHO WOULD YOU CHOOSE AND WHAT PART OF HIS/HER LIFE WOULD YOU LIKE
TO HAVE A TASTE OF?
We would have loved to have been around for
the birth of NWOBHM but as for one figure maybe the Spartan commander Leonidas
who held Thermopylae but not at the end of course.
17. THANK YOU! WHAT ELSE WOULD YOU LIKE TO ADD
BEFORE WE END THIS INTERVIEW?
Thanks for supporting the steel and we’ll
see you all on tour!!!!!!
Christine Parastatidou
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