@BatallionMO stand up w/ their new effort "Resilience" #STL #MUSIC

The uplifting St. Louis Metal artist Battalion really does not disappoint with their sophomore release. It is the follow up to 2009's "Seasons" by them. "Resilience" was recorded in the fall of 2012 at The Nook Recording Studio in New Lenox, IL with studio engineer Nick Nativo (Oceano, Monsters). I saw them live this past year at Fubar and enjoyed their set. Vocalists Clint Kesinger and Jamey Kroesen bring it and duel throughout the entire effort. Then you have Josh Masten on guitar, Shad Baldes on the bass and Justin Bess on drums. Initially, they were from rural Green County, Illinois. After some time, they decided to move to St. Louis and get more exposure. Battalion is scheduled for an exclusive interview to be featured on The Black Sheep Radio Show (88.3FM, www.wqna.org) in Springfield, Illinois later this month. Battalion has been asked to perform, fellow St. Louis local, Tear Out The Heart's (Victory Record's) album release show on March 22nd at "The Mad Magician" in St. Louis. Tear Out The Heart is an aggressive and catchy metal-core band which signed to Victory Records in August of 2012. Below is a quick review of the album by Battalion, followed by a free download of one of their new songs. Note that the album can be purchased on Itunes and ordered on CD Baby through the band's facebook page, which is linked at the top of this paragraph.

The first track "Chump Change" starts out with a short, but powerful introduction to the new eight-song effort by Battalion called, "Resilience". The second song, "Semper Fi" shows off elements that the listener will discover throughout the album, as a whole. Time signature changes, sweet grooves and original sounding builds. It ends with silence, followed by an echo that is reverberated a few times which then brings the listener to the next song. The guitar work on "Riot Control" is real cool. The drummer really sets the pace with this one. I also liked the atmosphere on the bridge of this song too. An excellent choice for track three and this one really stood out to me.

On "Thieves" the listener finds out just how brutal these guy's sound is. A polyphonic symphony for the metal-head heading out to war, so to speak. "Heartland" has a particularly upbeat groove with some interesting time signature changes. On the bridge, there is a guitar effect that really makes the song hit home and also the vocals seem to be chanted by their vocalists as the reverb added to their tracks give this part a different feel. Thus proving that these guys are a threat from the heartland. "Armistice" is an instrumental song with a nice delay on the guitar and a clean tone. The drummer paces the timing out with some snare beats. The bass plays a low melody to fill it out further. Appropriately, timed out too. Which then brings us to the title track.

"Resilience" is a rousing number. Quickly I figured out why. This is an anthem. Not just for the listener, but for the group itself. At the end of the song, the lyrics state the following,"Take a look at where you are, Where you've been, and where you're going. You only have one life, achievement sustained through believing in myself. Tighten the grasp on what is dear to you, We are at the top of the bottom, we are a band of brothers standing resilient." The back ground vocals stand out well with the effect that is chosen as the last two lines of the lyrics above are repeated a few times as the song plays out. "The Maniac" is the final song and just leaves you wanting more. This one is merely unpredictable and the changes come out of nowhere throughout, whether it be the drums, the guitar or the vocals.



Click HERE to stream/download the song "Resilience" by Battalion.

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