Final Conflict, The

With the record The Final Conflict, many suspected that Conflict was breaking up, though the band released quite a few more records. But things were downhill from this period in their career. The lineup on The Final Conflict included two of the foremost singers in the British anarchist punk scene: Colin Jerwood, Conflict's longtime singer, and Steve Ignorant of Crass, as well as Kerry Bovell. The three exchange vocals on some of these songs, but most of the lyrics are spit out very quickly and can barely be heard over the roaring guitar and bass. This album has a loud, discordant feel to it and it starts to wear on the listener after a while. It opens with the thundering instrumental "Countdown to Confrontation" and segues into the first rip-roaring number, "Let the Battle Commence." But before the A-side ends, the music loses most of its melody and starts to degenerate into sameness. There's one really questionable song, "The Cord Is Cut," clearly an anti-abortion rant. Here, Conflict seems to equate the killing of an unborn fetus with that of living, breathing animals, who've they've always been the biggest defenders of. It's a weird conclusion that they've drawn and one that's extremely unpopular within leftist and anarchist circles, where the great majority of folks are strongly pro-choice. Possibly Conflict never sang about the subject again. Otherwise, there are some good songs and some interesting cynical lyrics, but this is an average release from a pre-eminent band. ~ Adam Bregman|