Brothers of Conquest
“All the Colors of Darkness”
(Go Kart Records)
The South is a weird place. I was out in Florida for a job interview last year and some guy was showing me around a few towns outside of Pensacola. I asked him about the social life and he goes, “Yeah, it’s not that bad. Got some problems with the Klan sometimes.” Yeah, the South is weird and so are Southern Fried Metalheads, Brothers of Conquest. Molten guitar licks and Danzig-esque vocals comprise this longhaired fivesome. Singer Adam Neal, who, apparently prefers to be known as “The Rock ‘n Roll Outlaw” (probably just plain ol’ “Outlaw” to his friends and family) used to front the white-trash metal outfit Nashville Pussy. Neal is the a-typical metal singer who actually sings rather than growls. His full-throated, guttural vocals full of Viking/Southern imagery help carry this surprisingly tame release. I say tame only because the CD cover led to me to believe this would be some sort of deathmetal affair, rather than a solidly produced, slick offering. Don’t let that last sentence fool you though; these guys don’t muck about with any ballads or Dukes of Hazzard covers. “All the Colors of Darkness” is just straight-up, full-frontal metal from the…well, I’m not sure they’re from the South. But they might as well be.
