Album review: Battalions – King Of A Dead World

If you want a clue as to where Battalions are coming from, try this. "I was reading an article online about the decline of humanity, the battering of Earth's resources, the financial and human cost of war, global warming, and how the world's leaders are partly to blame,” says bassist Matt Dennett. “The article ended with, ‘Who wants to be the king of a dead world?’”

So, laughs are in short supply on the Kingston-Upon-Hull riff lords’ new one, but there's also a weird sense of dancing in the (acid) rain. What they have loads of is massive, heavy guitars and sludge explosions that could block a drainpipe. With a similar handle on a groove as Sabbath, Clutch and Sleep, they are a spring-loaded riff machine, with a hardcore edge that ups the rage of the blistering Coughing Nails and Diagnosis Fucked even further.

The nihilism remains articulate, though. Every punch they land is skilled and intentional, resisting the traditional urge to collapse into hateful feedback and rudderless rage. But this clever boxing simply serves to make No Safe Place, Bones To Dust, or the brilliantly wah-heavy Light A Fire even more sturdy and damaging. Often, it feels like a party, of the everything’s-fucked-so-may-as-well-have-a-drink variety. It’s quite prescient.

Heavy, angry and with a deep well of riffs, Battalions do this stuff very well. And as the title-track rounds things off in a slurry of slo-mo doom, music this rough feel like a very reasonable response to a world such as this. All hail.

Verdict: 4/5

For fans of: Clutch, Cancer Bats, High On Fire

King Of A Dead World is released on October 21 via APF