Batillus - Self-Titled
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One sign I’m getting old is that bands are tuning down to depths I’d never imagine. When I was growing up, an E string was an E string. Jimi Hendrix’ Eb and Helmet’s dropped D tunings seemed outré. I was thunderstruck when I discovered that Testament had tuned down to (gasp!) Db. The album, appropriately enough, was called Low. Phillip Cope of Kylesa says they tune down to G. G??? Geez! That’s four and a half steps below E. His strings must be giant cables.
New York’s Batillus tune down to a relatively civilized B. But unlike many other bands that do so, they’re not just sitting on open notes. The guitars are all over the place, which is uncommon for their doom milieu. While the band is duly slow and low (the three songs on this EP each top 10 minutes in length), it traverses diverse terrain: trippy Sabbath-isms, mutated Helmet riffs, even black metal tremolo picking. It’s an excitingly open system. There are lots of riffs – if you dislike one, one you like will likely arrive minutes later. Songs morph between riffs with surprising mobility, given the lumbering framework. (Yao Ming comes to mind.)
I saw this band live and was impressed. They played material not on this EP, I believe, and its syncopations were shudderingly mighty. The trio currently seeks a second guitarist/vocalist. Such an addition isn’t really necessary, but it’ll expand the possibilities. Well-played and well-recorded, this debut is downloadable for free here.
