By Ola Mazzuca
Talk about old school style. Amsterdam’s Conspiracy deliver just that on their latest release, Concordat. Maybe it’s the low-fi production or the bold guitar style that has that slight tinge of NWOBHM to it.
The sound is dark and intense, though sometimes confusing. On “Mentally Ill God”, the guitar work is very thrash influenced and tremolo picking is widely used throughout the album, but the vocals seem to be in between low-pitched death metal growls and high-pitched black metal screams. “Die In Style” is the most ‘classic’ sounding track on the album, with riffs and a solo that clearly reflect Judas Priest or Iron Maiden – minus the operatic vocals.
“Concordat (Conquerdate)” begins as a gentle acoustic track, later plunging into intense percussion and vocals that have vile undertones. “Faith” is the album’s slow interlude, where vocals are considerably clean and acoustic guitar makes its second appearance.
“Limited to 666” has that clichéd but cool title that listeners will possibly smirk at. It’s catchy, easy to head bang to and the best track on the album by far. The title helps.
Musically, Conspiracy works. The guitar work is fast-paced and usually intricate. The percussion is intense and supports the black/death metal vocals that pop up now and then. Conspiracy is a self-proclaimed black/death band, but I beg to differ. Concordat is black thrash all the way.
(Pulverised)
