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You’ll
need patience for this one. Though some like myself will
come to Threshold of Imbalance with the
preconceived notion that the songs will take about
fifteen minutes just to take off and that shall prepare
them for what they are about to face. That said, I am
still surprised by how slow the Battlefields guys move
their music. They parse their tunes out so far apart
that sometimes it even sounds like something went wrong
with the mix and whoever was in charge of twisting the
knobs did not mix anything. Instead, he just randomly
placed one instrument after another. That said, yes,
you’ll need patience. And if you are expecting to be
rocked. Go elsewhere. Battlefields is clearly more into
creating ambience, than rocking out.
Thresholds of
Imbalance
is a challenge. Centerpiece “The Tresholds” barely moves for
three minutes. And when the band decides to pick up the pace is
still only to partially reveal volume and textures. Before I get
any further I’d like to pat in the back Rob Schmidt and the band
for the lo fi sounds obtained. The drums have this acoustic live
feel to them that is so not finished product ready. I say that
in a good way of course. And the guitars are a tad below normal
levels. I say that in a in a good way too. There is a bit of a
contrast to this approach. Bands that work their music in layers
and strive for atmosphere usually opt for gloss and symmetrical
sounds. Not Battlefields, who keep it organic and make music
that’s not about destination but about getting places. For them,
is the road that matters.
Battlefields
work their atmospheres through time. Slowly developing a post
rocking sound that had it come out about nine years ago it would
have blown minds, this fledging band adopts a seemingly
simplistic stance. Battlefields surprise for their simple
aesthetics and their unorthodox addition of infrequent black
metal vocals.
The end
product has depth and the band successfully borrows as much
from Slint as from Isis. Name dropping aside, Battlefields
puts the ball in the listener’s court. You gotta let this stuff
wrap you over. These tunes will slowly take you prisoner, like a
fly in a spider web.
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