Rock 'N Load - 'Conflict::States' Review - 29/04/2021

The 12-track album begins with a whirring air-raid siren that soon melts into a stomping drumbeat. A simple but solid strum of bass guitar and deep echoey vocals stride in confidently, unrushed and with an intimidating chorus. ‘The Day Called X’ has a very full-bodied sound, its audio panning fills your ears whilst gently defrosting you…a suitably Gothic warm-up if you will.

The muffled start of ‘Replicas’ has the clever effect of thrusting you back into the thick of it (like returning to a gig room after a loo break.) Eerie plea-ing words question authenticity “Can’t copy me, where is your honesty?” and ‘Pioneers’ is a sweetly melodic song with soothing depressed vocals and strong guitar lines that intermittently gate-crash but don’t hang around for long.

If you like a song with a lot going on, then ‘Antibiolotics’ should fit your script. From the chilly breathy rasps to the haunting rather hallucinogenic vocals and their cloudy side effect of higher pitch, add in a dose of Electro hammering and a short wailing guitar solo and the ambience is that of Alt-rock with a Gothic veil. Whilst ‘Cold War’ provides a hugely danceable beat and strobing sound effect. You can picture the neon studs and buckles glinting under the UV lighting of dancefloors (a distant memory) as the bass guitar thrums and the harsh-edged vocals plunge in with that sneering chorus.

‘Monolith’ is well worth paying extra attention to. It manifests as less of a song and more what sounds like a collection of clever computerised samples. Strings creak in over steady bass and guitar fragments and a beatbox of electronic pops brings the modern whilst a chorus of fallen angels keeps you firmly grounded.

Beats and thudding bass strikes herald the entrance of ‘Fatalism’ there’s that rhythmic pulse again – dance edit, no remix needed! – Occasional guitar assaults between quieter spells build to full power with deliciously deliberate vocals. This song has welly but if ever a song did sound like it was wearing thick-rubber-soled boots then it’s ‘Year XI,’ slow vocals, over a fast beat ascend into craziness, before tailing to Industrial noise territory then leaping into Techno revelry.

‘Zealots’ is the shortest song on the album it has low, deep, vocals, almost whispered as it slowly reaches its dirt-filled claws to sever your heartstrings with its melancholy. However, even the lengthier songs on this album such as the muted fogginess that is ‘Eras’ sustain enough interest that they feel like fleeting moments of dark joy.

Rounding things up is ‘Disconnect,’ a pretty beast that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Stranger Things soundtrack. It may be the final song of the album but something tells me this powerful force isn’t done yet. This album is a wonderful concoction of doomy dark layered lyrics, dancefloor dust-ups and ignition sparks. Head fillers that reach into the outermost Goth caverns of your mind with a neon faux fur brush. Think Alt-rock given electric chair treatment. Eastleigh bound threesome Broken Links drop their third album ‘Conflict::States’ Friday 30th April 2021.

REVIEW: SUZI BOOTZ