Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
It has long been said that if you poke the Russian bear, you are likely to get mauled. Unless of course you do it with a drum stick and point out the electric guitar and the impressive female vocalist waiting to get started, then the Russian bear, a polarising designate which isn’t worthy of the paper it is written upon for the Russian people are just as astonishing as the British when it comes to all things music, the Russian bear jams harder, beats faster and splinters more drum sticks in search of the perfect Metal rhythm than any other creature growling in the forests around the Steppes.
Conflict is a different game and not to be confused with the Old English Punk band of the same name. Conflict is one in which there are normally no true winners, the stalemate that built up over decades between the Soviet Union and the United States was one that produced nothing but ash and yet from out of that same powdered residue comes a terrifyingly good band, Conflict, and their latest album, Transform Into A Human.
In the eternal quest for extremely good quality Metal, the streets of Moscow, certainly to a previous generation, is not the first point of call when thinking of the pulsating hedonism and thrashing symbolism of the well played guitar and stunning female vocals. It is a shame that perhaps outside of a certain set of divisive man-made boundaries, some outstanding music never sees the light of day beyond the night sky and dark waves of a North Sea evening and yet the power, the absolute gut- turning , pounding experience that accompanies Transform Into A Human, is one that should be allowed to infiltrate British airspace, it might also have better luck keeping jetfighters out.
Tracks such as Low Frequency Addicted, Mechanism of Life, the massive sledgehammer to the foundry of Metal in Rebuild the Parasite, Half Man, Half Machine and the opus, the glory fulfilling Transformation all knocking on the ears of the British fan, one whose own country has somehow become stifled and devoid of great artists in the genre in the last decade.
Transform Into A Human is a great introduction to the overall Metal arc that sits on the Moscow streets and lifts a glass to its British comrades, a truly awesome album, high on quality, high on drama and takes no prisoners, as all the best Metal should.
Ian D. Hall