Another day, another power metal debut album, as if there aren’t enough bands already flooding the scene. Olympos Mons are from Finland and that basically pretty much sums up their musical direction; straightforward up tempo power metal. However unlike many of their compatriots these Fins have managed to add slightly more melody and variation to their music but unfortunately they haven’t managed to avoid the giant gaping pitfalls of the scene in general. And if you’d only listen to the ultra cliché “Lady In White” you’d swear differently. It’s Stratovarius allover again; a harpsichord intro and a melody that displays true lack of inspiration. I’ve heard it about a few million times before.

Conquistador is a melodic power metal album that offers nothing new. Sure, it features some decent tracks with okay melodies. The production by Nino Laurenne (Thunderstone) is great and Mika Jussila has done a great job on the mix. The sound is bombastic and straight in your face but again reminiscent of all the other melodic power metal bands in the scene. I wish there would be something that would set this album apart but it’s all a dime a dozen. Definitely okay material but the lack of an own sound and interesting ideas puts me off.

For those of you wondering what the heck Olympos Mons means, it’s the highest mountain on Mars and the largest volcano in our solar system.