Battery

Nuke (demo)

Written by: PP on 14/10/2011 22:01:59

I don't like being harsh on local bands, but sometimes there's no way around sending a reality-check, like in this review of "Nuke", the third demo by Aabenraa-based Battery. It's a classic example of a band releasing material to the public waaaaaaaaaaay too early in their recording career, before they've gathered enough experience both as musicians and songwriters to share their creativity to the rest of the world. In short, "Nuke" should have been an internal demo from which to build on to better and bigger releases.

The demo consists of six tracks, two of which show glimpses of promise, and four of which I have trouble understanding why money and studio space was spent to record the songs. The band juggle with 80s thrash metal and crossover thrash, drawing their inspiration in part from early Metallica (as their name suggests), and in part from bands like Municipal Waste and others like them. While this is a fine idea on paper, there are several considerations Battery should've addressed before deciding that "Nuke" should be released to the public. Firstly, the production is god-awful. It's self-financed and most likely self-recorded, which you can definitely hear in the unbalanced mix where vocals often drown out the rest of the instruments and the drums sound flat and powerless in the background. Secondly, the vocals need massive improvement before they can be judged even acceptable within thrash metal. They're going for that Municipal Waste inspired high pitch screaming style, but it doesn't work very well. Thirdly, the songs aren't very interesting, aside from the first two tracks which have a newer and more technical sound than the rest of the EP. They are also played far too loosely for what is the norm in thrash metal.

And all of this combined results in a record that is, frankly, awful. Yes, it's a harsh review, but it's one you can expect when the product isn't developed yet to the standards you've come to expect even on debut releases by bands these days. I'm not suggesting Battery don't have any talent, I'm merely convinced based on this demo that they should have used at least two more years honing their expression in private before releasing stuff to the public.

3

Download: Danger Of The Streets
For the fans of: Municipal Waste, crossover, early Metallica
Listen: Myspace

Release date February 2011
Deadbanger Records

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