Employed To Serve: Command & Conquer
Rewind the clocks to March 2020. EMPLOYED TO SERVE are smashing their way across the UK in a headlining run supporting 2019’s thunderous Eternal Forward Motion. Akin to so many of their peers, it’s business as usual; show after show, pit after pit. The grind of a touring band. But it was not business as usual. As the Woking bruisers ventured from city to city, the emerging COVID-19 virus was on the precipice of exploding worldwide and as it inevitably became uncontrollable and lockdown loomed, the tour was scrapped and the band left directionless. For frontwoman Justine Jones, looking back 18 months later, she tells Distorted Sound of the bittersweet feeling when she looks back on a record that should have catapulted the band into the upper echelons of heavy music.
“We literally managed to do like, two tours, and a couple of festivals before COVID hit. We did the BURY TOMORROW tour and then our headline tour that got cut short in March 2020. I’m always a little bit sad that we didn’t get to tour it [Eternal Forward Motion] much because we had such a busy 2020 planned as did everyone,” Justine tells us. “I love that record. But yeah, I’m kind of a bit like, kind of bittersweet, looking back at what could have been but it’s kind of useless to sort of like think like that.”
For lesser bands, having a pandemic hit amidst a hefty touring schedule would kill them dead in their tracks but EMPLOYED TO SERVE are no pushovers. Rather than resting on their collective laurels in the age of Zoom calls and Netflix, flash-forward to the here and now, and the band are here to conquer. Conquering, the band’s fourth full-length record, arrives at the perfect time as life in the UK enjoys a restriction-free lifestyle once more. Crafted over the pandemic period, it would be easy for Justine and her bandmates to anguish and pour their frustrations of the pandemic into the body and soul of their new offering, but as Justine explains it was quite the opposite intent.
“It would be like impossible for it [COVID-19] not to influence it. But I think for the most part, we were feeling quite positive and wanted to not write a sad record because no one needs that right now. Everyone’s already down! So you know, we wanted to record like an empowering record to get people stoked on achieving their goals and being the best people they can be. Because I just I love records like that, I keep sort of saying it but HATEBREED‘s Perseverance is a huge record for me, I just love how positive they are but at the same time like really aggressive,” Justine explains on the positive metal energy lying at the heart of their new release. “We want this album to be like you’re trying to get stoked at the gym. Or if you’d had a rough day at work and you’re trying to work on your hobby at home after work, you know, and you’re trying to let yourself go and get psyched even though you’re tired!”
Empowering is the perfect word to describe Conquering. We challenge anyone to listen to EMPLOYED TO SERVE‘s new offering and not have a grin as wide as the Cheshire Cat by the time they are finished. Expanding upon the more metallic direction that Eternal Forward Motion hinted at, Conquering sees EMPLOYED TO SERVE fully embrace a more metal direction. The riffs are chunkier, the grooves are fatter and there’s enough solos unleashed throughout the record’s runtime to appeal to many a metalhead. Having walked the tightrope between metal and hardcore since their explosive inception, Justine explains that with Conquering, the move towards a more ‘traditional’ metallic approach is a keen focus from the band to ensure they don’t pigeonhole themselves into one sub-sector of heavy music. “We felt like we’ve done the whole hardcore metal crossover for quite a long time and we’ve always enjoyed it, but, we’ve felt like we’ve already done it on our last three records, particularly the last two. Also, we like the idea of not to pigeonhole ourselves, but to fit somewhere. I think it’s a very British thing to have, like this weird mix of sounds and sometimes it was quite hard to place us in lineups. So now that we’re a bit more definitively metal, I feel like that would be a bit easier for us, because it makes sense what stage to put us on. I think part of our charm was that we never quite fit anywhere perfectly. I’m looking forward for just sort of seeing how it goes with this new album, I’m excited!”
Justine‘s excitement towards her new album is infectious and it is easy to understand why. Conquering does exactly what it says on the tin, this is a record that will inevitably cement EMPLOYED TO SERVE as one of the finest bands of our generation. And with their slot on GOJIRA‘s massive tour to come, Justine cannot contain her excitement about touring with one of the biggest bands in modern metal. “I’ve literally been a fan of that band [GOJIRA] for over 10 years now, I love that band! And like they’re such a gold standard for quality as well, every album is incredible,” Justine says with the utmost glee when we ask her of the opportunity to tour with GOJIRA. “The Paris show, the arena there, like KENDRICK LAMAR played there, that’s how big it is. It’s ridiculous! So yeah, I’m so excited about playing Alexandra Palace, it is huge. All the shows are almost like our festival size audiences if you know what I mean, it’s insane to be of that lineup!”
The time is nigh for EMPLOYED TO SERVE to command and conquer, long may it reign.
Conquering is out now via Spinefarm Records.
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