Battlefields - Entourage of the Archaic; Bongripper - Hate Ashbury
I’m going to take a detour from my “weird, noisy, metal records” series to talk about a show I went to last night, and review the two records I picked up while there.
Last night I checked out Minsk, Amenra, Battlefields, and Bongripper. Despite a weak turnout (it was a Thursday night, which sucks for the touring bands) it was a pretty sweet show.
While there I picked up the new Battlefields and Bongripper records and, given that they’re both real good, I thought I’d go ahead and get some reviews up here while the show is still fresh in my head.
First up we have Battlefields, from the great state of Minnesota. Battlefields play a kind of hybrid of progressive screamy hardcore (pg.99, City of Caterpillar, Envy, and Circle Takes the Square might be good comparisons) and drony metal (think Isis, Tides, Mouth of the Architect, Rosetta, etc.). I was a fan of their last record “Stained With the Blood of an Empire.” It didn’t blow my mind, or anything, but I thought it was a pretty solid listen and I still break it out every once and a while. I think they do a pretty good job of balancing the two sounds they draw from, creating an enjoyable sound.
My biggest problem with the last record was that it wasn’t really as dense as I felt it needed to be. There’s a lot of lighter parts and they tended to feel a bit flimsy. When they kicked out the heavy jams the sound wasn’t quite as crushing as I felt they were trying to go for. I wasn’t sure if this had to do with the recording quality, the mix, or if they just needed some extra layers in there, but I felt the songwriting, while solid, was let down a bit by the execution.
Having said that, nothing could have prepared me for the thick wall of badass that punched me in the face as they busted out into the first heavy part they played last night. They jammed out on some pretty meaty, aggressive sounds, thickened up with all kinds of noise and effects layered on top of the riffs. Definitely some good head-nodding music.
I’d also like to say that their drummer is a fucking beast, which I was a bit surprised at given that he looks like an extra from Dazed and Confused. Like, imagine a kind of skinny, long-haired, stoner metal looking guy whose ass you think you could probably kick. Now imagine that guy pounding the skins like your drunk uncle pounds the sauce on the Fourth of July. Yeah. It was fuckin’ brutal.
So I picked up their new, reasonably priced, one-song EP “Entourage of the Archaic,” released on Init Records.
First off, no idea what that title means. I can’t even imagine how the archaic could have an entourage.
Secondly, this EP is a big improvement over their last record. The song is better, the recording is more dense, and everything comes together great. It definitely does a better job of capturing how good they sounded live on a CD better than their earlier release did.
The song is kind of an ebb and flow of lighter, dronier parts and crushing heavy riffs accompanied by throat ripping screaming and (I have to say it again) some real hard hitting drumming.
The main problem with this EP is that it’s FUCKING SHORT. The song clocks in at 13 minutes and some change. Now, like I said, they kept the price down, which is good, but it definitely leaves you wanting more. I mean, we fretted over releasing a 28 minute CD with our last record, and this is half that. In fact, the ending sounds like it’s building to something totally mind blowing but then it just stops. I was really enjoying it and could have listened indefinitely, but alas, Battlefields has denied me!
So Battlefields seem to have done a pretty good job of taking their already pretty solid sound and pushing it further with this new record. Now if they can just keep it up and deliver a full length worth of material this good I’ll be a happy fucking camper. I definitely recommend checking out this EP and seeing them live on their tour. You'll be well served.
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Next up we have Chicago’s own Bongripper. I have to out myself here. In the interest of full disclosure it should probably be pointed out that I’m biased. We’re friends with Bongripper and have played a bunch of shows with them. That doesn’t change the fact, however, that they’re a kick ass sludge band.
Really. This isn’t one of those cases where some asshole is talking up his friend’s shitty band to be nice to them. Bongripper really do deliver the fucking goods.
If you have the good fortune of seeing them live you’ll be treated to some of the heaviest shit you’ll ever hear. For four little guys who probably still get carded when they try to buy beer (he’s heating up…), they can bring the stoner-sludge like nobody’s business.
Last night, Bongripper leveled me. They’re just that fucking loud and heavy.
As for the new album, it’s called “Hate Ashbury,” continuing their trend of hippie bashing album titles, following up their last proper full length, “Hippie Killer.” For a band called Bongripper they sure like to trash talk hippies. Hey guys… how about you call your next album “Patchuzi” and have a picture of a patchouli stinking hippie being mowed down by Uzi fire? Here’s some concept art I whipped up in MsPaint for all y’all:
For real. Feel free to use that. That shit’s golden.
Where was I? Oh yeah. Hate Ashbury.
So I couldn’t find a picture of the artwork anywhere online so for tonight’s performance the part of Bonripper’s album cover will be played by Dave Mustaine eating pancakes. Apparently, when your band is called “Bongripper,” you’ve got better things to do than put a fucking jpeg of your artwork online (he’s heating up…).
So this record is a fucking kick in the babymaker. For real. Bongripper’s heaviness knows no end. It’s like in the Salem Witch Trials when they used to drop a door on you and put a bunch of weights on it and if you were a witch you wouldn’t die from the rib crushing asphyxiation. Listening to Bongripper is like that, but sweet lady death never comes. You just keep getting the weight dropped on you over and over again.
I think the best band to compare Bongripper to would be Tides on their first record, but really, if you’ve ever heard a sweet stoner riff in your entire life you can pretty much imagine what they sound like. Think of that sweet riff. Got it? Now make it heavier. Still with me? Now play it for ten minutes until it dissolves into wall of shimmering, blistering, sludgey noise. You’re now imagining a Bongripper song. Enjoy.
This album is technically one giant song, but it’s broken up into 8 chunks, each which kind of have their own feel. Some are more straightforward sludge, some are a bit more noisy, and some are, well… just noise.
That’s probably the one problem I have with this album. There’s about 30 minutes of just straight up noise on it. I love noise, but 30 minutes in 10 minute or so chunks is a lot to ask me to listen to when what I really want to hear is the bong-rattling bass. It took me about 9 minutes to figure out that the first track wasn’t really going to do anything. I mean, come on Bongripper. If I wanted to listen to a bunch of noise that went nowhere I would just go put on your LAST record (HE’S ON FIRE!!!).
Overall, though, I promise you that this is one of the heaviest, rockingest, and most satisfying records you’ll hear all year. Do yourself a favor and check it out.
And if you happen to see Bongripper, bring some fucking earplugs. You'll need them.
