Band:	Krisiun
Album:	Conquerors Of Armageddon
Style:	Brutal death metal
Release date:	2000

01. Intro / Ravager
02. Abyssal Gates
03. Soul Devourer
04. Messiah's Abomination
05. Cursed Scrolls
06. Conquerors Of Armageddon
07. Hatred Inherit
08. Iron Stakes
09. Endless Madness Descends
10. Seas Of Slime [bonus]

Conquerors of Armageddon is a seemingly overlooked and underrated brutal death metal gem by the seemingly overlooked and underrated Brazilian Metallers Krisiun. It is an album that is as remarkably brutal as it is comfortingly conventional in its ridiculously fast shredding death metal style. But allow me to rest the adjectives and explain why it is, for any fan of extreme death metal, a probably-must-consume-by-most-means-necessary album (or in other words, a solid but un-extraordinary release).

The name Krisiun was not foreign to me when I was first introduced to Conquerors of Armageddon. The overall image and automatic associations that initially arose were of a "second-string" band, used to support superior death metal acts during live shows. Needless to say these initial associations were, as initial associations tend to be, unjustified and false. Krisiun has produced some of the most interesting and blisteringly fast death metal riffs, songs, and albums over their now rather extensive discography. Conquerors is no exception.

The album has an overall feeling of authentic dynamism. Each song flows organically through a series of semi-complex, always very fast, riffs, complimented by steady blast beats and rapid rap-like growls, the likes of which very few metal vocalists actually do well. One might, within reason, find similarities between Conquerors and Behemoth's Thelema.6 , which was released a year later in 2001. The blast beats are ever-present and staggeringly fast, the guitar work is thrashy but, nevertheless, emphasizes the speed and precision characteristic of death metal, the vocals are raw and refined growls, and the bass work is...well there is bass work too (not to detract from the recognition of some amazing bass work on Krisiun's 2008 release, Southern Storm ). Alex Camargo's vocals are especially notable, Camargo perhaps being the part of Krisiun most easily comparable to Behemoth. Camargo is capable of, without evidence suggesting he layers his voice, summoning the similar deep, raw, and powerful growls of which Nergal is no stranger.

My main complaint is that the guitar work does seem a tad redundant every now and then. Although it is always fast and brutal, thus sufficiently maintaining a traditional death metal movement (for lack of a better term), the relentless use of rapid hammer-ons and pinch harmonics detract from the overall power of the album as a whole. Nevertheless the relentless nature of the guitar work is, obviously, not an entirely negative aspect for a brutal death metal album. Assuming metal "brutality" is the product of, among many other things, relentless speed, it seems reasonable to assert that Conquerors houses some of the most brutal death metal I have ever heard.

It is important to note that Conquerors of Armageddon is not an incredibly inventive death metal release. "Revolutionary" is not an appropriate label for the album, "evolutionary", on the other hand, is. Krisiun elaborated on the, now incessantly used, Morbid Angel formula and sped it up considerably. That being stated, the lack of an entirely new sound should not detract from the sheer solidness of the album. It is a thick and heavy chunk of metal, flaunting an elegant musical weave. When tossed into the death metal ocean of blood, the album's splash is more intricate and aesthetically pleasing than it is large.

- (The term "organic" is intended to suggest a sound lacking an additive quality and creating a sense of heightened dynamism. The repeated use of the term "power" should be acceptable due to the general conceptions I assume my fellow metal fan has regarding "headbangability" and "brutality") -