Conflict – ‘This Much Remains’ Review

RIP Colin Jerwood – really sad. A day after I posted this review, Colin passed away on 02.06.2025

I wasn’t the greatest Conflict fan, but I always recognized the passion, genuineness and ferocity of their music and their support for direct action as a force for change. But there are lots of dilemmas in it. Are you preaching to the converted? Do you change your music to attract a different listener to get your message to a wider audience, and be accused of selling out? How do you remain untainted in an industry built on ripping people off? What does your music achieve? All these questions are still there but as a voice of protest you can’t argue with it.

Its been 20 years since their last album and the worlds even more fucked if that was possible. Trump, Farage, Putin and Netanyahu are on the ascendant and add in the continued eco destruction of the earth and the constant drip drip of negativity and poison from social media and AI and the world seems a bag of shit; so no shortage of subject matter then!

So, to the album. I have to say I was genuinely taken aback at just how good it is. The mixture of male and female vocals add variance and shifts, the music itself goes from full-on Conflict roar of old to reggae, acoustic, instrumental passages, to almost thrash metal complete with multiple plectrum scrapes and dare I say it, there’s even a highly commercial earworm song! It’s highly listenable, which may be an anathema to some. In addition, as you’d expect, it’s thought-provoking and frikkin militant.

The highlights for me are This Much Remains, Collusion Exclusion (serious ear worm alert: you’ll be singing that chorus trust me, long after you’ve played it), A Mothers Milk (thought provoking questioning of feminism and vegetarianism but you’ll need the lyric sheet (see below) to appreciate its argument) and Cut The Crap with Stephan Zephaniah

Born in filth and misery, raped by a man’s hand. No consent given, none requested, silenced by the acres of distance. Pregnancy, gestation, birth, repeat, 8 years later you’re just cheap meat.

Look through her eyes, see what se sees. The horrors of the slaughterhouse, brutal, bloody, extreme. Breathe in her world, take a deep breath now, the stench of death it chokes her down.

Hear her screams, she knows what’s next, nothing humane just a brutal death. Her babies torn from her womb, stolen and murdered to be consumed. They crow about the environment, moan about plastic straws While a billion mothers shit and piss, polluting all our shores. So save your virtue signalling, I don’t care how you feel. While babies cry and mothers mourn the earth will never heal.

Are you a feminist? Do you drink her milk? Then you can take your fucking feminism and shove it you hypocrite. Are not all females important? Do they not all deserve our respect? How can you fight for women’s rights and allow yourself such disconnect? I’m not perfect, I make mistakes too, but at least I try, how about you? Stop thinking about what you can’t do and think about what’s possible? Anything, if you just try.

And meanwhile on supermarket shelves Disguised with labels promoting health A hundred white bottles you can buy Of course it’s a fucking lie!

I went to the site to see the option to buy and with a wry smile noted the deluxe option which was the now mandatory colour vinyl options, some signed stuff and surprisingly, Conflicts own Chilli sauce WTF?!

As I said, I’m genuinely surprised how much I like this and I like it more every time I play it. In short it’s good to see Conflict and their tribe are still the ungovernable force because fuck knows we need them.

Conflict are Colin Jerwood – vocals; Fiona Friel – vocals; Gav King – guitars, melodica & Hammond; Fran Fearon – bass; Stoo Meadows – drums. With Benjamin Zephaniah – vocals on ‘Cut The Crap’; Mitsuko Sonoda – voice on ‘The Impossible Soul’.

Tracklisting: 1. The Impossible Soul / 2. This Much Remains / 3. The Collusion Exclusion / 4. Outside The Box / 5. Masters Of The Race? / 6. That Other Song / 7. Echoes / 8. Cut The Crap / 9. Shut The Fuck Up / 10. Rebellion’s In Session (Again) / 11. A Mother’s Milk / 12. When The Lights Go Out / 13. Statement Of Intent / 14. A Message To Them / 15. Inferno / 16. Concluded

Boxset Limited to 300 copies only and contains the following. White Vinyl LP, CD & Music Cassette of the This Much Remains album. Bottle of Conflict Vegan Chilli sauce, Conflict Sticker, Conflict Tote Bag, Signed Print, Signed Lyric Sheet, A3 Poster, Conflict Badge Set, Conflict Patch.

---

Buy boxset here | Conflict Facebook

---

---