For their third album, Italian-based band Konquest main man Alexi Rossi wrote and recorded all of the vocals and instruments himself, although they do exist as a full band now and have made successful festival appearances recently.
As well as Alex, the other constant is the heavy rock roots that inspire and flavour the eight new tracks on Time And Tyranny. The influences range from NWOBHM via Thin Lizzy to classic Tokyo Blade and Tank.
The album begins with a Maiden-esque riffy instrumental called ‘Relativity’ which bleeds neatly into the title track and its quiet, measured intro before the whole band kick in with pre-Dickinson flourishes, quality and feel. ‘Something in the Dark’ stays in the Rue Morgue before the closest thing to a ballad unfolds on ‘The Light That Fades Again’. Slow melodic guitar/key intro building up to a powerful conclusion.
‘Enter the Warrior’ and ‘Warrior From a Future World’ are really one final, epic nine minutes. The former is a windswept intro to the latter which starts with a near-cliched cappella roar before the heavy riff-driven song expands and employs varying time signatures and weight, a strong conclusion.
It would be easy to use phrases like ‘derivative’ after just a cursory listen; however, a few run throughs will reveal a new take on the NWOBHM influences – lovers of that era will surely appreciate the new nostalgia Alex Rossi has achieved.
Time And Tyranny is released on 14th October on No Remorse Records.
