Considering that it takes its name from the highest mountain on Mars and the largest volcano in the universe, it's no big surprise that Olympos Mons has crafted an explosive and over-the-top debut metal album – full of melodic, symphonic anthems and dark, romantic lyrics. Boasting brash production and the unlikely presence of strings, bagpipes, flute and harps, Conquistador opens with "Seven Seas" (sort of a metallic sea chanty) and closes about one hour later with the 11-minute title-track epic, which melds speed, power, thrash and progressive metal into a churning battle cry. These four Finns also make effective use of chanting on "Wanted Man," create keyboard arrangements that recall the softer moments of Rhapsody and Stratovarius on "Through the Ice and Snow" and flirt with Eastern sounds on "Cleopatra." Perfectly named vocalist Ian E. Highhill has tremendous range and hits the high notes effortlessly – if a bit too often.
You've heard it all before (except maybe the bagpipes!) but these guys make most of it sound fresh. That's no small feat.
Track Listing:
1) Seven Seas (4:39)
2) Stars (5:04)
3) The Last Light of the Moon (6:29)
4) Wanted Man (4:04)
5) Black (6:05)
6) Through the Ice and Snow (3:40)
7) Black Desiree (4:00)
8) Cleopatra (5:18)
9) The Princess of Saba (5:02)
10) Lady in White (5:43)
11) Conquistador (10:52)
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