Hailing from the frozen tundra and icy rugby league pitches of Kingston Upon Hull, burst forth a melting pot of downturned, jagged riffs and flared jean flapping in the form of Battalions, who return with this their fourth album following on from 2018’s ‘Forever Marching Backwards’. Diving straight in, this is an interesting collection of songs that embrace a myriad of different musical influences all of which exist under the skanky blanket of sludge and doom metal. Now if this is your thing, then there is going too much to enjoy here, being as it is a genuflection at the altar of all things Sabbath, Cathedral, Down and Orange Goblin.
That might seem like I am damming them with feint praise, but it’s meant as a compliment of sorts. But truth be told, there isn’t anything on this album, that you may not have heard before in terms of originality but it’s all played with a swagger, precision and passion. I think the issue I have with his genre in general is that often the band seem to be in such awe of their influences, that to stay too far from the path well-trodden is viewed with suspicion and fear and to be avoided at all costs. And for the most part, for most songs on this album, it follows the same musical path with tempo, pitch and musicality remaining true, and steady and for a time that’s fine. These are all competently played and well written doom vignettes but after the first four or five songs, you’re desperately looking for something to break the doomy paradigm, a chink of light through the curtain to herald the coming of the dawn. And to their credit, when Battalions do exhibit passages of music that deviate from just the pure sum of their influences, there the band truly reveal their true selves and its in these moments that the album truly comes alive.
Again, this sounds like I am not enjoying what the band have produced, that’s not true at all, I enjoyed most of the songs on King Of A Dead World its just its all a bit samey, except when it isn’t. There are moments where the tempo speeds up or slows to a crawl, where the guitars syncopate into a groove that makes you sit up and listen and these moments are so marked because a lot of the songs seem to just blend into each other. Part of the issue here is also part of the unique selling point of the band. Vocalist Phil Wilkinson is one of the highlights of the whole show with his shrill, raspy barked vocals being a real standout. It elevates much of what is good on this album, adding a frisson of class and bulk to the songs, but it also is part of the issue because the vocals again follow the same trajectory throughout the album without a change of pitch, intonation or indeed tempo and again this leads to many of the songs simply blending into each other like a soupy doom broth. If it seems like I am sitting picking splinters out of my arse as my bum attempts to digest the fence I am sitting on, then you’d be right. Because every time a song crawls into my noggin that seems to be merely meh, I sharpen my quill and set it to stun, but then along comes a slight mood, tempo and tone shift that makes me sit back, reflect, take stock and change my mind.
There is much to be admired and applauded from these UK doomsters and there are moments here on this album that are excellent, but for me, it’s lost amongst a myriad of songs that are simply OK and seems to do their best to reverse extrapolate much of what could make this album a real triumph. Maybe this seems harsh, maybe, but until the band can manifest and build more variety into their patented doom stomp and build upon the moments of real promise on show here, then I am afraid I am not on board.
(6/10 Nick Griffiths)
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