Zwaremachine – Conquest 3000 (Album – Phage Tapes)
Genre/Influences: Dark-Electro, EBM.
Format: Digital, CD.
Background/Info: “Conquest 3000” is the second album of the American formation Zwaremachine. This band, driven by Mach Fox and completed by ‘Dbot’ and ‘Dein Offizier’ took me by surprise by its promising debut album “Be A Light” (2018) followed by a few EP’s. “Conquest 3000” was also released as an EP right before the release of this new opus.
Content: The fans of Zwaremachine will easily recognize the songs featured at the EP “Ripping At The Fabric” and the previously mentioned EP/Single “Conquest 3000”. Four new songs have been added. The sound and style of the project hasn’t really changed; mixing Dark-Electro with efficient EBM. The songs are mainly composed with electronics, but achieved with guitar sounds. The songs are powerful and there’s a constant danceable tempo running through the tracklist.
+ + + : Zwaremachine not only confirms its potential revealed at previous works, but even moves a step further. The composition is elaborated and accomplished with real intelligence. Aggressive sequences and solid bass lines have been carried by pumping rhythms, but you’ll also notice a great, dark atmosphere hanging over the songs. There’s also a perfect twist between more explicit EBM songs and pure Dark-Electro cuts. Zwaremachine brings all these influences together, like an imaginary offspring between Nitzer Ebb and Frontline Assembly. I also like the production of the vocals, which is powerful, but not abusing the distortion effect.
– – – : The single regret I can think about is that I already knew 6 tracks from the tracklist, but on the other side it’s also pretty cool to get these EP-songs now on a physical copy -and album.
Conclusion: Zwaremachine more than confirms its successful debut and potential; “Conquest 3000” sounds to me as one of the best albums of the year in the Dark-Electro & EBM style.
Best songs: “International Hero”, “What We Are”, “Ripping At The Fabric”, “Conquest 3000”, “Resist”, “Until Tomorrow”, “Parasol”.
Rate: 9.
Artist: www.facebook.com/zwaremachine
Label: https://phagetapes.miiduu.com / www.facebook.com/phagetapes Read the news on ‘Conquest 3000’.
About Zwaremachine
Zwaremachine is an industrial body music band from Minneapolis, USA. The line-up on “Conquest 3000” was Mach FoX on vocals and synth, Dbot on bass guitar and vocals, and Dein Offizier on drums and percussion. An early self-released EP, “Raumschiff”, appeared in 2011.
The debut album “Be A Light” was released by Phage Tapes in 2018 and reissued by Sliptrick Records in June 2020 with an additional track and remixes. A collaboration between Mach FoX and D.Corri produced the five-song EP Zwaremachine – Ripping At The Fabric (EP – Brutal Resonance Records) in May 2020, and the “Conquest 3000” single and remix EP followed later that year.
The “Conquest 3000” album was released on July 17, 2021 by Phage Tapes on CD and in digital formats, with ten songs written and produced in collaboration with Planktoon and D.Corri, and additional mixing and mastering by Jason Orris at The Terrarium in Minneapolis. The band went on to release the Ministry cover “Effigy” in November 2021, the EP “A Sickness” in 2023, the single “Actions And Forces” in 2024 and the EP Zwaremachine launches ‘Waking The Night’ EP in March 2025.
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