Carlson’s musical explorations can be traced back to his pioneering work with the minimalist ensemble Earth—from the groundbreaking drone metal of Earth 2 to the ominous instrumental twang of Hex; Or Printing in the Infernal Method. For his first full-length as the solo artist Dylan Carlson, the guitarist returns west.

In many ways, “Conquistador” harkens back to Hex. Whereas the Earth album set out to score the historical fiction of Cormac McCarthy’s examination of white settlers’ horrific campaign against Native Americans in Blood Meridian, Conquistador bypasses the intermediary narrative of a novelist, “This is another imaginary western”.