''Vanquish'' is the ninth studio album by the group
Two Steps from Hell, released on 2 December 2016.
It consists of 17 tracks written by composers
Thomas J. Bergersen
Thomas Jacob Bergersen (born 4 July 1980, Trondheim, Norway) is a Norwegian composer, multi-instrumentalist, and the co-founder of the production music company Two Steps From Hell. Bergersen's compositions have featured in many motion picture ...
and
Nick Phoenix
Nick may refer to:
* Nick (given name)
* A cricket term for a slight deviation of the ball off the edge of the bat
* British slang for being arrested
* British slang for a police station
* British slang for stealing
* Short for nickname
Pla ...
.
The album is the first major public release to include no material from industry album releases.
It was recorded live by
Capellen Orchestra
Capellen Orchestra is a custom sized studio symphony (100+), utilizing selective musicians from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria and Hungary, formed by and exclusively used by Capellen Music Production. In 2011, Capellen Orchestra & Choir we ...
under the supervision of
Petr Pololáník
Petr Pololáník is a Czech conductor, orchestrator and music producer. His father Zdeněk Pololáník belongs to foremost Czech composers.
Petr studied both violin, piano and conducting; in 1996, he earned his Master of Arts in conducting at the ...
, and features vocal performances by Felicia Farerre, Asja Kadric, Jenifer Thigpen, and Linea Adamson.
The cover artwork and the sleeve are designed by
Steven R. Gilmore.
The album was made available to the industry via
Extreme Music on January 4, 2017.
The album is dedicated to Phoenix's late son, Jack,
who was killed in a
hit and run incident a year before its release aged 15.
Track listing
Critical reception
Clothilde Lebrun of ''Trailer Music News'' was favourable, describing the album as "epic and bombastic at times, inspiring and sweeping at others", albeit not having "the dramatic intensity that some previous industry releases had". Considering the latter, she said it offers "a more diverse listening experience, with very elaborate compositions by Nick Phoenix and more experimental ones by Thomas Bergersen", concluding, "Vanquish is a welcome sequel" to ''
SkyWorld
''SkyWorld'' is the fourth public album by the group Two Steps from Hell, released in October 2012; their third major release following the success of ''Invincible'' and ''Archangel''. The album contains 22 tracks written by composers Thomas J. ...
'' and ''
Battlecry''.
The review by Brigid Ehrmantraut published in ''The
Princeton LP'' was also favourable. She claimed the album was "finessed in comparison with some of the group’s earlier releases". She was most critical of the album's lyrical tracks, calling them an "iffier proposition" compared to tracks featuring choirs. Overall she felt "last year’s output was more compelling" (''
Classics Volume Two
''Classics Volume Two'', also stylised as ''Classics, Vol. 2'', is the eighth public album by the group Two Steps From Hell, released in June 2015. It features 15 previously unreleased tracks from prior demonstration albums composed by Thomas J. ...
'' and ''
Battlecry'') but that both of the aforementioned "lacked finer points of instrumentation compared with Vanquish". Ehrmantraut concluded: "If Two Steps from Hell classically delivers slices of larger stories and flashes of unfinished dramas, then quite excitingly, Vanquish’s longer numbers, more extensive lyrics, and subtler orchestrations may, in places, be a little closer to offering us fully-fledged plotlines."
IFMCA-associated reviews website, ''MundoBSO'', rated it seven out of ten stars.
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
2016 albums
Two Steps from Hell albums