With Faith or Flames – A Conquest Triumphant

Label: Stand And Deliver
Rating: 4 Guns

Review By: John Rabb

Special thanks to Ian Sharp!!

A Conquest Triumphant marks With Faith or Flames debut album at Stand and Deliver Records, and delivers a knockout punch of solid heavy metal that transitions seamlessly and transcends genres. From start to finish, this album runs the heavy metal gamut, and blurs the lines between metalcore, deathcore, and power metal. The sound of the album contains strong elements of death metal, thrash, and traditional heavy metal, and the songs effortlessly jump from one to the other, and then back again. The riffs are so flawlessly mixed that, at times, it’s difficult to hear where one ends and the next one begins.

However, WFOF brings much more to the table than most thrash or death metal bands with A Conquest Triumphant. The band eases off the reverb in this album, making the blazing guitars, barreling drum rolls, and rough breakdowns all able to be heard clearly, and not smeared together like so many lesser heavy metal bands. Whereas their self-released 2005 album "Beneath the Heel of Oppression" (recorded with Jamie King from Between the Buried and Me as a featured guest star) showcased a different second guitarist and a more straight up metalcore sound, Conquest strays more from what the rest of the scene is doing.

The band’s talent is confirmed song after song with finger flying technical riffs and ultra tight execution. The guitar work on A Conquest Triumphant is both quick and melodic, with nasty breakdowns and signature solos. Andrew Core’s drumming on the album is superb, and provides an unstoppable driving force to the music. The drums are highly compounded when at full power, with layer upon layer of pounding percussion coming through crystal clear. Sharp’s vocals on the album alternate between haunting growls and piercing shrills, complementing the album’s style perfectly.

A Conquest Triumphant combines riff building and decorative guitar elements while technically thrashing on a level matched by very few. With all of WFOF’s strengths in its latest offering, A Conquest Triumphant stands up there with the very best in modern heavy metal. Whether you’re into death metal, thrash, or hardcore, A Conquest Triumphant has something for every taste.

Like With Faith or Flames? Check out: Destroy Destroy Destroy, Between Me and the Buried.