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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