US all-female post hardcore metal quintet CONQUER DIVIDE are back with with their new single “Chemicals” after their long band hiatus.
The band has been inactive since 2018, but that all changed recently when cryptic posts popped up on the group’s social media accounts, teasing an end to the hiatus.
Listen and watch it here:
“We know everyone’s been dying to hear what we’ve been up to, and the short answer is that we had just taken a bit of a break to focus on our personal lives,” guitarist Kristen Sturgis states “We had a lot of time to reflect on what direction we wanted to go in next. I think, collectively, our musical tastes have all evolved. We still wanted to feel heavy and anthemic, but it was important for us to step outside of our comfort zone moving forward.
“‘Chemicals’ is about addiction from the perspective of an artist. More often than not, addiction can get swept under the rug or is almost encouraged in some circumstances by the people who are the closest to the the person who is addicted. Sometimes, being on the road can be the absolute worst place for an artist struggling with addiction, yet they are encouraged to keep going. Those around them don’t always see or read the signs and we end up losing so many talented musicians to overdoses or mental health issues that frequently accompany addiction. This happens everywhere, from rock and metal music to the highest echelons of pop. This song talks about how you can turn a blind eye, but at the end of the day, that makes you part of the problem.
“For the music video, we wanted to show that through textures. You see the artist performing at the top of their game, but there is clearly something going on beneath the surface. They are going through the motions, but they are a shell of their former selves where the addiction has taken over to the point it’s impossible to ignore visually. But others choose to pretend everything is normal. Our director Jeb Hardwick did an awesome job with that, and I can’t speak highly enough of his work and work ethic. This was our first video in front of a green screen and it was a really cool experience. Since we all have to fly to a central location when we got together — as we are scattered across the U.S. and Canada — we were very lucky to be able to film it before the pandemic hit.”
