Those legends at APF know a riff when they hear it. And Battalions can bring a riff or two to the party. King of a Dead World is the band’s latest release, their fourth album and the follow up to 2018’s Forever Marching Backwards. It’s a bruising 30 minutes of sludge dragged goodness which sees the debut of drummer Simon Harrison who s bassist Matt Dennett, guitarist Pete Cross and the barking vocal abrasion of Phil Wilkinson for the first time in the studio.
From the opening salvo of “Green Boots”, the Humberside titans play it straight down the line. Slab after slab of crushing heaviness pummels the listener whilst Wilkinson roars, screams and generally rages with pure aggression. The pace is variable but tends to opt for intensity rather than speed. “Coughing Nails” sounds exactly as a song with this title should; it’s a rust coated ball of phlegm which is hurled deep from within, causing damage with its explosive and pummelling delivery.
“Diagnosis Fucked” could be a statement about most of the world now but is especially apt for a band from the UK. It’s a punishing, abrasive track, the musical equivalent of being scrubbed with a brillo pad. Jagged riffs delivered with driving percussion and more of the same from Wilkinson. One hates to think how his throat feels after he’s laid down these lines.
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Battalions combine sludge and stoner in a style that stands very much at the extreme end of the scale. The thrusting, piledriving riffage is relentless, a huge juggernaut that once momentum has been achieved, appears unstoppable. It may not be to everyone’s taste, with the vocals particularly angry and challenging, yet the raging piledriving tracks here are captivating, a punishing surge of vitriol and savageness wrapped up in one sludgy fist that hammers around the head from start to finish. “Bones to Dust” appears to have been written to illustrate the way the band impact on the listener. I’m sure I felt internal organs flip as the roaring “No Safe Place” and “Parasite” poured out of the speakers.
Crawling from the floor to reach the title track, one might be ready for a breather but no such luck. It’s a massive, rolling beast of a track to conclude the album, with riffs raining down in slow, orchestrated domination. One final blast of Wilkinson’s roars and the doom-soaked riffs of Cross, and it’s time to collapse in a heap. This is one nasty piece of work.
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King of a Dead World is out on October 21st
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