Tuesday, February 28, 2017

BATTALIONS - Nothing to Lose review



BATTALIONS - Nothing to Lose

Black Bow Records



According to the promo info Black Bow Records is going to put out this band's second release some time soon. But in the meantime they've reissued their debut full length which came out last year. Well ain't that nice. So after listening to Nothing to Lose I believe the working title for their second one should be Nothing to Gain. Of course that depends on the band getting any better at their craft.

BATTALIONS is a British stoner sludge act that take some of their cues from US southern sludge bands, most of whom live within a hundred miles of the very home I'm writing this from. Now if I consider recent efforts by bands from my home territory to be mediocre and boring in recent years how well am I to take a band from across the pond doing the exact same thing? At least their singer doesn't use a fake Southern drawl. 

BATTALIONS is a five piece act, no pun intended, that combines chunky riffs, funky grooves and swagger when they wanna move uptempo to produce eight cuts. Song subject matter consists of all those Merry o'l English traditions like drinkin - "Whisky & Wine", the plight of welfare mothers and children - "Deadbeat Dad Beat Dead" and one that still has me puzzeled - "Hoods Up, Knives Out". Hmmm, is that really a ghost on the front cover or something else? Yeah that's just a few examples. Imagine an Oi band who skipped over IRON MONKEY and listened to copious amounts of SOURVEIN.

Rating: 2/5

http://www.blackbowrecords.com/

https://www.facebook.com/BattalionsSludge

https://battalionsdirt.bandcamp.com/




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