Zwaremachine
Conquest 3000
Released 17th July 2021
EBM/Industrial
Self-Released
‘Conquest 3000’ is the second album from the American EBM band Zwaremachine. The project has been around since 2011. They describe their style as “minimal hypnotic industrial body music”.All their releases are available from the Bandcamp page.
So after a few listens I can state that what we have here is a classic EBM album with a futuristic, dystopian theme. The vocals remind me of Sascha Konietzko from the German industrial metal band KMFDM. “Minimal” seems to be the keyword here as this album is full of catchy yet simple synth-driven EBM songs. The vocals are more spoken word rather than actual singing but they work well with the music.
One of the tracks which caught my attention was Toymaker, which features a memorable chorus and works as a dance track. Speaking of dance tracks, Parasol is definitely a good one. It’s hard to listen to it without being tempting to sway and stamp your feet to the tune. I also enjoyed Resist where the heavy bass lines are paired with synth melodies to produce a very danceable song.
In summary, ‘Conquest 3000’ is a well-executed classic EBM industrial album which I would recommend to fans of early KMFDM and bands such as Front 242. Retro, minimal yet very catchy.
7/10
Iza Raittila
Valkyrian Music 