''Conquering Dystopia'' is the debut album by the

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

technical death metal Technical death metal (also known as tech death) is a musical subgenre of death metal with particular focus on instrumental skill and complex songwriting. Technical and progressive experimentation in death metal began in the late 1980s and early ...

band Conquering Dystopia, digitally released on March 10, 2014. On July 8, 2014 ''Conquering Dystopia'' was made available on vinyl and released via

Century Media Records Century Media Records is a German heavy metal record label with offices in Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million. Background Century Media was founded by R ...

History

In early 2013 solo guitarist Keith Merrow announced via his Facebook page that he and former

Nevermore Nevermore is an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1992. The band was formed after three of its members — vocalist Warrel Dane, bassist Jim Sheppard and guitarist Jeff Loomis — ended their prev ...

guitarist

Jeff Loomis Jeff Loomis (born September 14, 1971) is an American musician, best known for his role as lead guitarist in the progressive metal band Nevermore during its existence from 1991 to 2011, as well as brief tenures in its precursor, Sanctuary (band) ...

would record an album together. In July 2013 Merrow and Loomis, now going by the name Conquering Dystopia, launched a

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance, to fund projects "withou ...

campaign on

Indiegogo Indiegogo is an American crowdfunding website founded in 2008 by Danae Ringelmann, Slava Rubin, and Eric Schell. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, California. The site is one of the first sites to offer crowd funding. Indiegogo allows peo ...

in order to fund the recording of the album and announced that the band's lineup would also feature

Cannibal Corpse Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band formed in Buffalo, New York, in 1988, now based in Tampa, Florida. The band has released sixteen studio albums, two box sets, four video albums, and two live albums. The band has had little radio ...

bassist

Alex Webster Alex Webster (born October 25, 1969) is an American musician who is the bassist and a co-founder of the death metal band Cannibal Corpse. He is one of two original remaining members, alongside drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz. He is also the bassist ...

and former

The Faceless The Faceless are an American technical death metal band from the Encino neighborhood of Los Angeles. They released their debut album, ''Akeldama'', in November 2006, and a follow-up, '' Planetary Duality'', in November 2008. The band's third ...

drummer Alex Rüdinger. The campaign goal of $15,000 was reached in less than 24 hours. In December 2013 Conquering Dystopia recorded the album at the Audio Hammer Studios with producer Mark Lewis.

Track listing

Personnel

;Conquering Dystopia *

- guitar * Keith Merrow - guitar *

- bass * Alex Rüdinger - drums ;Guest musicians *

Ola Englund Ola "The Swede" Englund (born 27 September 1981) is a Swedish guitarist, YouTuber, record producer, and the owner of Solar Guitars. He is a founding member of the band Feared, plays lead guitar in the Swedish Heavy metal band, heavy metal band T ...

- guitar solo on "Totalitarian Sphere" * Wes Hauch - guitar solo on "Autarch" ;Production * Mark Lewis - producer, mixing *

Eyal Levi Eyal Levi (born May 22, 1979, Cleveland, Ohio).Conquering Dystopia albums 2014 debut albums Albums produced by Mark Lewis (music producer)