Conqueror – War Cult Supremacy
The founding member of the Ross Bay Cult, a black/death metal label from Canada, Ryan Förster, being incredibly inspired by the works of fellow Vancouver locals Blasphemy, came together with fellow black metal cultist, J.Read, to form a band that was short lived, but made a splashing impact at the now dying black metal scene of the late 90s and early 2000s, Conqueror. It is indeed an extremely short lived band boasting only two demos and a single full length album known as War Cult Supremacy, a menacing and hateful album that understood what previous works within this style of metal were doing and attempted to shift it to the next level. What they did accomplish though was creating a rather intense album and one that is rather captivating, though, at times can be rather too intense for its own good.
The drumming of J.Read is impressive to say the least. His intense style of playing creates a hypnotic wall of sound that drills straight to your core. The snare, pounding away along side the rumble of the bass and the spine chilling sounds of the cymbals really create for a unique and raw sound that is easily identifiable. He also provides incredibly harsh and evil vocals, like he’s pushing past the pain of having his own throat being slit as he sings. There are as well effects that he uses to modulate his voice, creating strange and alien effects that continue to add to the atmosphere of this album. The opening track Infin
ite Majesty would probably be their ‘easiest’ song to get into for those who’re not so familiar to this style of metal. It opens with a very short but memorable riff, provided by Förster that is genius in its simplicity. Like the sound of mortars falling from the sky, with the drums accompanying the guitars to create the physical force of it shooting off, and yet its strangely catchy. The rest of the album devolves into utter chaos, with blast beats, down tuned guitars, and screams galore, with certain moments of stop and slow down where the guitar can do its work.
What this album did was spark the biggest debate amongst the black metal scene where its split straight down the middle. Either you love it and believe this is true, honest to Satan, black metal that goes straight for the jugular and doesn’t ask questions, or its complete and utter garbage, where its just two guys who are maniacs, banging on instruments and pretend to call it ‘metal’. And honestly, I think that’s what they wanted to do. Förster had to have known that what he was creating along side J.Read would spark so much chaos among the scene its album whole purpose is to create utter chaos, forming a war within the scene. But then again, who gives a shit what others think, this album fucking rules and listen to it if you want. I don’t care, and I don’t think the band does either.