In 2020, the members of Conquer Divide decided to put an end to their creative break and have since returned with a few new singles and a featuring with German band Electric Callboy. Today, they release a new track, ‘Paralized‘.
Guitarist Kirsten Sturgis had this to say about the new song:
“This song is about battling with mental illness and depression —especially during the pandemic — and feeling like you are too mentally paralyzed to move forward.
I was in a dark place because, as some people may or may not know, I am a critical care nurse when I am not touring. I was traveling around the country to all these hot spots to help-out with COVID, and I saw dozens of people lose their lives. And I still really have not fully processed it.
But if you do not disconnect, you can’t do your job effectively. So, it is the kind of depression where you don’t feel anything at all, and you turn your emotions off. There was a point where they had psychologists visiting us on the unit to talk about our feelings. But it was like, ‘I don’t have time for this right now. I need to hang the next bag of x/y/z medication and keep this person alive. Get back to me in a year after this is all over.’ I think a lot of health care workers are also going to have PTSD or depression from what we went through. I hit a bit of writer’s block as a result of my mental state, and this song was a bit cathartic for me.“
According to Sturgis, the second album is in preparation :
“We’ve all grown so much since our first album. We’ve done a lot of soul-searching and introspection about the creative direction of the band, and we’re excited to share what we’ve been working on. There will be something for everyone on our second album.”