Vanquisher - 'An Age Undreamed Of' (official album stream)

«Between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the gleaming cities... there was an Age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world like blue mantles beneath the stars... Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand... to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandaled feet.»

Οι Vanquisher μας έρχονται από την Ιβοριανή εποχή (εεε, την Σουηδία ήθελα να πω). Δημιουργήθηκαν πριν από εννέα έτη και μας συστήνονται κάπως έτσι: «Vanquisher is a Heavy Metal band that tells the stories of Robert E. Howard's Conan the Cimmerian and the Hyborian Age wherein he lived». Τα ονόματα - ψευδώνυμα των μελών της μπάντας προέρχονται από χαρακτήρες του έργου του Robert E. Howard "The Frost-Giant's Daughter" ("Η Κόρη του Γίγαντα των Πάγων"). Ας τους αφήσουμε να μας παρουσιαστούν...

Niord of Nordheim (Weapon of choice: The screaming flail): «Niord hails from the icy land of Asgard in Nordheim. He is the war cry that initiates the battle and his bellowing growls and piercing screams freeze the blood of his enemies as the war-party of the Vanquisher rides forth. After witnessing the great prowess of his ally Conan of Cimmeria on the battlefields of Nordheim, he set out to gather those brave enough to fight in the Cimmerian’s name and to spread the word of the man who came down from the somber hills as a barbarian to one day become king of Aquilonia. Those who know of Niord’s past knows that he, alongside the Aesir warriors Gorm and Horsa, were the ones who found a young Conan passed out in the snows of Vanaheim, where he had been provoked to chase Atali, the frost-giant’s daughter, after a long, hard battle between the Aesir and the Vanir. Maybe Niord and his party finding Conan was meant to be, for Niord seems convinced that his fate is now tied to this barbarian of Cimmeria.»

Heimdal the Warlord (Weapon of choice: The Vanir Vindicator): «A great warrior from Vanaheim who wields two battle axes painted as red as blood on sunlit snow. His cunning ways on the battlefield left him in command of the great forces the war- party of Vanquisher assembles. By the time Heimdal blows the war horn the enemies know that the battle is already lost. Since he became Warlord he stands tall and undefeated. Only once was he defeated in bloody combat in his Vanaheim days by Conan of Cimmeria, whose last words to him were: "Not in Vanaheim, but in Valhalla will you tell your brothers that you met Conan of Cimmeria." And so, after Heimdal’s ascent to Valhalla, he did indeed tell his brothers of the man who slew him. And for being the last to stand on the bloody snows along with Conan, he was rewarded with life anew for his bravery. His brothers in Valhalla would grant this under one condition, though: that he would tell the rest of the world who it was that he met on that battlefield where Wulfhere's reavers met the wolves of Bragi. And since then on, Heimdal’s loyalty to this cause has put aside his rivalry to the Æsir and made him join the chosen few who set out to do the same.»

Wulfhere the Executioner (Weapon of choice: The Soulcatcher): «An outcast from the people, Wulfhere was left to die in the woods at birth by the elders of Asgard. He evolved his surviving skills by fighting the deadly creatures lurking deep in the darkest parts of nature, where peril waits behind every corner. He was found and accepted by his battle-companions in the war-party Vanquisher, which soon became his only pack. The four others in this company chose to be loved by him, whose long dwelling in the wild had made him seem more like a beast than man, but all others tremble in fear upon meeting the one they call “The Executioner”, for a wolf’s allegiance is to his pack, and no one else. Wulfhere was in charge of a company of Aesir reavers during the battle between Heimdal and Conan in Nordheim, in which Horsa, Gorm and Niord were participating. During a Vanir ambush, all of Wulfhere’s reavers (including himself) fell in the end before the blades of the Vanir, whom they also ended; all except for Niord, Horsa and Gorm, who thought Wulfhere to have perished. But Wulfhere’s many years of living in the wild had developed his survival skills and after some time being passed out in the snows among the fallen reavers, his hardened body awoke. The presence of the war-party was long gone, but Wulfhere’s wolf-like senses could catch their lingering scent, making it possible for him to track down his brothers and reunite with them once again.»

Horsa the Untamed (Weapon of choice: Frostbane): «The frozen lands of Nordheim gave birth to many brave and fierce warriors. Among them came Horsa, the Æsir Warrior! By steel he shreds his enemies to pieces and leaves no battle- field without covering it with the blood of his foes. And as he stands victorious so do his fellow brothers. Together they stand as one and they shall march forever on as the heavy metal barbarians of the Vanquisher. During the battle in Nordheim between Heimdal and Conan, Horsa, along with Niord, Gorm, Wulfhere and other fighting-men had to battle their way through a Vanir ambush, in which they proved their skill in melee combat many times over and made their way through the bloody snow to find Conan passed out in the coldness of Vanaheim. And it is because of them that Conan lived.»

Gorm of the Pounding Hooves (Weapon of choice: The Thundering Twins): «From out of Asgard comes Gorm of the Pounding Hooves. Rumor has it that the many battles he took part of in his younger days, when he was yet to become a man, has caused him some sort of dementia, seeing as he always finds himself in the middle of every battle he can join, sometimes without any allegiance to anyone, it seems. He listens only to the pounding of his heart and the drums of war, which send him back to his battle-filled past as a young boy thirsty for bloodshed and drive him to issue his punishment to all those who stand in his way. By his sides hang two maces known as The Thundering Twins, with which he cracks skulls, splits bones and crushes armor alongside his brethren in the war-party Vanquisher. Though some doubt his words, Gorm claims to have lain half-slain on the bloody field of Wolraven as a boy and to then have seen the mythical and beautiful Atali, daughter of Ymir, the frost giant, walk among the dead in the snow. Many from Asgard say he is delirious from a sword cut on his head in his youth, but after Conan of Cimmeria claimed to have seen the same thing, people are starting to reconsider Gorms words.»

Το 2017 κυκλοφόρησε το -τριών τραγουδιών- ep "A Demonstration of Power". Ακολούθησαν δύο singles "Shadows over Stygia" (2019), "Storming Venarium" (2022) και πέρυσι οι Vanquisher κυκλοφόρησαν το πρώτο "ολοκληρωμένο" δίσκο τους υπό τον τίτλο "An Age Undreamed Of".

«Vanquisher chronicles the adventures of the Hyborian age by the power of epic heavy metal» μας λένε και μας προτρέπουν «enter Vanquisher and the Hyborian Age»!

Δελτίο τύπου: «Out of the near-forgotten past, from an age undreamed of, comes five barbarians born in the frozen north of Nordheim with one mission and one mission alone: to chronicle the high adventures of the Hyborian Age by the power of Heavy Metal.

In a savage union of screaming guitars, a thundering bass, pounding war drums and echoing battlecries, the war-party known as the Vanquisher has come to unleash the merciless, thrashing power of heavy metal upon the world and begin a new age of barbarism.

Ready your axes, broadswords and shields as you are taken to ancient lands of swords and sorcery, where once Robert E. Howard´s mighty Conan of Cimmeria roamed and treaded the jewelled thrones of the earth and saw the shining kingdoms of the Hyborian Age.

Come hear the tales of the somber hills and trees of Cimmeria, the shadow-guarded tombs of Stygia in the south and the great Aquilonia, proudest kingdom in the dreaming west, among other things. Enter Vanquisher and the Hyborian Age.»

Band: Vanquisher
Country of origin: Sweden
Location: Malmö, Skåne
Formed in: 2014
Genre: Epic Heavy/Power Metal
Themes: The Hyborian Age
Years active: 2014-present

Video: "Battleborn"
Filmed / edited by: Niklas Johansson
Filmed / edited at: Harm Studios

Album: "An Age Undreamed Of"
Type: Full length
Release date: July 12th, 2022
Label: Stormspell Records
Format: CD, Digital

Band members:
Wulfhere the Executioner - Bass
Gorm of the Pounding Hooves - Drums
Heimdal the Warlord - Guitars
Horsa the Untamed - Guitars
Niord of Nordheim - Vocals

Guest/Session:
Johannes Frykholm Orchestrations

Miscellaneous staff:
Cederick Forsberg - Recording (lead vocals, drums), Producer (lead vocals, drums)
Johan Jönsson - Illustrations (booklet), Layout
Niklas Johansson - Mixing, Mastering
Michael Hansen - Cover art, Logo