Batillus – Concrete Sustain | Review

Active since 2007, Brooklyn’s Batillus are one of the most intriguing sounding bands I’ve come across in a long time. “Concrete Sustain”, the band’s sophomore effort (following 2011’s “Furnace”), features six profound, brooding songs that incorporate elements from several different genres. Their approach is rooted firmly in doom metal, with heavy, bleak guitar chords, agonizing growls, sluggish, pounding drums and rumbling bass lines, but there’s also a strong industrial/drone influence on this record that occasionally brings to mind a heavier version of Swans. This amalgamation might sound odd in words, but Batillus actually know how to fuse these disparate sounds with rather enjoyable results.
The album opens with nearly a minute of noisey feedback, industrial effects and martial drums as part of opener “Concrete”, a song that melds cold, military percussion with crushing guitars and the creepy, raspy vocals of Fade Kainer to create a rather disturbing and chilling atmosphere. Following track, “Cast” carries out the same gloomy and industrial feel, but on “Beset”, Batillus adopt a more minimal approach to churn out nearly eight minutes of punishingly-slow and mournful doom metal. Album closer, “Thorns” is another strong track, offering a bewitching fusion of trad doom with post-rock elements.
All in all, “Concrete Sustain” is pretty solid release that fans of doom and unconventional music will want to check out.

Band info: www.batillusdoom.com
Label info: www.seventhrule.com