Dying Clarity - Conqueror

This will be quick, I promise. There's not much to review here anyway.

Dying Clarity is a melodic technical death/thrash metal band from Spain. That sums up Conqueror rather nicely. If I just summarized the album, why am I going to write a review on it? Because I feel like writing down my thoughts as I listen to things. Fuck you. They released a demo and an EP but failed to promote themselves, and they released their debut Conqueror in 2009 after they disbanded. The album is entirely instrumental - and I know it's a bit weird to review something like this, but honestly I haven't been in a very musical mood lately, and this came on shuffle so I was like why the hell not.

Melody and aggression are two things that don't mix entirely well.  I feel like Dying Clarity does a decent job with it though. There are some cool melodies on here, some of which are borderline progressive. "The Deadly Planets Theory" begins with a melodic tremolo riff and toms, and honestly their style doesn't really change much on the following tracks. There's plenty of arpeggiated riffs, blastbeats, tremolo picking, melodic basslines, and it all feels rather mid-paced. Similar to Symbols Of Failure-era Psycroptic, some of the songs feel a bit random, like "Hidden Words In A Silent Valley." It's not a bad thing though as the track certainly has a theme to it and Dying Clarity stick to it. I have to say that as background music though, Conqueror works rather nicely due to its instrumental nature. It's not heavy enough to startle even a mouse - and that's a good thing this time around.

In fact I'd go as far as to say that a lot of the songs on here are "pretty." They ebb and flow, wind around each other, and then descend into metal fanfare. This is where the progressive elements really show through, on tracks like "Conqueror" and "Under Black Water." I don't really mind this on an instrumental album, although usually I'd bitch about how fruity it is.

I have one serious complaint with the album though. And that is the track "Frenetic Eclosion." That track, whether intentional or not, bears a striking similarity to this Martyr song (primarily the intro). That's pretty weak on their part if they stole that riff. Anyway if you're looking for relaxing, progressive, instrumental extreme metal then this might be a good choice for you.

6.25 out of 10

Fuck that intro riff.

Tracklisting:

1.	The Deadly Planets Theory
2.	Eyes of Trust
3.	Conqueror
4.	Frenetic Eclosion
5.	Instrumental
6.	Hidden Words in a Silent Valley
7.	Whenever a Breath is Lost
8.	A Higher Level of Wisdom
9.	My Desire of Blood
10.	Under Black Water