Conformicide
| Conformicide | ||||
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| Havok's studio album | ||||
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Publication |
March 10, 2017 |
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| Label (s) | Century Media | |||
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Title (number) |
10 |
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running time |
57 min 49 s |
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Steve Evetts |
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Conformicide is the fourth studio album by the US thrash metal band Havok . It was released on March 10, 2017 via Century Media .
Emergence
The new album was released four years after the previous one, which was due to an injury to the singer and guitarist David Sanchez. In 2014 he broke the mountaineering one wrist , which long sat him four months out of action. The attending physician made a mistake when applying the plaster cast so that the bones did not grow together properly. Another operation was necessary, which gave me another five month break. Since Sanchez could not play guitar at this time , he composed on a keyboard . In addition, he dealt with other musical styles such as classical and jazz . In the meantime, Mike Leon left the band to go on tour with Soulfly. He was succeeded by Nick Schendzielos, who also plays in Cephalic Carnage and Job for a Cowboy .
For the first time, all four band members composed new songs that were musically more progressive and varied than before. Sometimes the four musicians play contrary to each other, as Sanchez tried to make the band sound wider like an orchestra. For the album, the band used not only new ideas but also parts that were partly written ten years ago. The album was produced by Steve Evetts, who had previously worked with Sepultura , among others . Guests will be John Hernandez (backing vocals) and Tim Ryan. The latter mimes a news anchor on the song Intention to Deceive . For the song intention to Deceive one was music video rotated. The digipak version of the album also contains the songs String Break and a cover version of the Pantera song Slaughtered . The LP version also contains a live version of the song Claiming Certainity .
background
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Singer David Sanchez described Conformicide as the extended middle finger to the current conditions worldwide. With the album title, the band wants to draw attention to the problems of conformity . Conformity should be killed, according to Sanchez, as individualism is much stronger and more powerful than adaptation. The song FPC is directed against political correctness . According to David Sanchez, any form of politically correct language means a restriction on freedom of speech and would therefore be a form of censorship . Unpopular words should also be protected as part of the freedom of speech.
Hang 'Em High is critical of the United States ' political system , particularly the two-party system , in which only the Democrats and Republicans matter. According to David Sanchez, US citizens have no real choice because there would be little difference between the two parties. According to Sanchez, the real enemies of the US are in their own country.
“That is exactly what is perfidious about the US system. There are only two parties that do not represent the middle at all. But that's exactly where most of the people stand. "
Dogmaniacal deals with people who are afraid to take responsibility for their own lives and prefer to do what others tell them to do. Intention to Deceive criticizes television that Sanchez called it a dumbing medium. The song begins with a fictional news program which, according to the announcer, "contains trivial stories to distract people from what is really going on in the world". Ingsoc refers to the eponymous party from George Orwell's novel 1984 . Peace Is in Pieces criticizes the many wars the US is currently waging and that the US government spends more money on war than on education , agriculture and the arts .
reception
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Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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Reviews
According to Matthias Weckmann from the German magazine Metal Hammer , Havok would allow himself “far more creative excursions than his three predecessors” with Conformicide . The "melodies would be more concise, the vocals more catchy and the dynamics higher," for which he awarded five out of seven points. For Ronny Bittner from the German magazine Rock Hard "the change of bass player is clearly significant". With the “progressive touch” the band would “often lose sight of the catchy choruses and hooks”. Bittner awarded 7.5 out of ten points.
Chart placements
For the first time, the band made it into the German and Swiss album charts, where Conformicide was 94 and 96 respectively.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Matthias Weckmann: Stretched middle finger . In: Metal Hammer , April 2017, page 52
- ^ A b Frank Albrecht: Political Correctness in the Flachspüler . In: Deaf Forever No. 16, page 122
- ↑ a b c Mandy Malon: All against all . In: Rock Hard , April 2017, page 56
- ↑ Havok in the German charts. GfK Entertainment , accessed on March 17, 2017 .
- ↑ Havok in the Swiss charts. Hung Medien, accessed March 21, 2017 .
- ^ Matthias Weckmann: Havok - Conformicide . In: Metal Hammer, April 2017, page 94
- ^ Ronny Bittner: Havok - Conformicide. Rock Hard , accessed March 17, 2017 .