BATTLETORN- some memories upon the release of Reflect the Filth

[Battletorn- the early days]


Like a bunch of people who have been involved with this kind of music, there was a period of time when I didn't go to a lot of hardcore shows. It wasn't that I had "moved on" or liked the music less, or anything as dramatic as getting "fed up" with "the scene" and so stopped going to shows. True, there was a good deal of hardcore music I was just plainly not interested in, but there's always been a good portion of that going on, and I found it easy enough to avoid even when I was going to hardcore shows every weekend. It was more of a practical thing for me. From 2002 on, for a few years, I was living in NYC and teaching. There wasn't much going on in NYC that was close to me; I didn't live too far from ABC No Rio, and while I was there a bunch in the mid to late 90's, I wasn't too interested in most of what was there in the interim. CBGB's didn't really have hardcore shows except for bigger ones, and a bunch of those I'd play with either Trenchcoat Army or the Nihilistics. But the stuff I was most interested in was happening in some spaces and lofts in Brooklyn and I just plain wasn't into trekking out there on a 45 minute to an hour subway ride on weeknights only to get up at 5 in the morning the next morning. I was into plenty of other music and went to shows regularly around NY to see other kinds of bands, so there wasn't a lack of music in my life. Who knows, maybe I'm making up excuses, but at that time, I do remember following what was going on in Denmark pretty closely and I loved me some Amdi Petersens Armee and Young Wasteners, I saw an Observers show that was pretty killer, and I picked up one of the earlier Career Suicide 7"s and thought it was awesome.

On one occasion, I went to see the bands the Witnesses and Bad Wizard at Sin-e at the location on Attorney Street. A pretty decent place to see a show, big stage, not too big/ not too small, good lines of sight to the stage, and it was never packed beyond belief. Bad Wizard had a big AC/DC thing going on and put on a good and loud show. I think they're still around and have some records on Tee Pee Records. I was mainly there to see the Witnesses who were one of those bands that came around in the days when blogs first started popping up, and the NY contingent thereof proclaimed that the NY rock scene (which, for some reason, they had everyone believe was gone) was suddenly "back." Of course the Strokes came out of that, and a bunch of other bands garnished a lot of attention in the wake. The Witnesses were one of those bands, and while the description above might come off sounding a bit derogatory, they were actually pretty awesome, had an un-ironic Stones-y/ Faces thing going on, put on a cool show, and a couple of them were cool people to boot. So I was at this show, the Witnesses were finished and Bad Wizard's stuff was set up. It was a typical NYC "indie" crowd at the time; lots of hipsters, folks who fancied themselves rockers, and just random folks. Everyone was milling about, and these three people just nonchalantly walked out of the crowd, this one dude who looked like he could have been a roadie for Bad Wizard picked up a guitar, some other dude sits behind the drums, and some girl with a metal t-shirt picked up the microphone, said something about playing a few songs before Bad Wizard went on.

[Battletorn w/ Beverly singing]

They then launched into a fucking racket that sounded like full on Victim in Pain-era AF meets Nausea. My jaw hit the floor, I was NOT expecting this at all. Are you kidding me? Is this a hardcore band? How could a band I never heard of before do this shit so damn well? I knew I was a little out of touch, but what the fuck?? Who the hell were these guys and gal? After the short blasts of the first song, I don't think the crowd knew what to make of this. In the awkward silence after the first song "Thanks, we're Battletorn." Battletorn, huh? They blasted a few more tracks, and walked off the stage. Such was their M.O. for the first bunch of shows. I had to see this band again. Somehow they got offered a bunch more hipster-type of shows, and I made it out to the shows when I could, but you could tell these folks just took whatever they would get and went with it. It was quite a cool vibe with very little pretense, whatever the scenario or circumstances were. Their sets barely lasted 10 to 15 minutes and often times shit was smashed in front of the stage. I don't know if it was a crew of hardcore folks bringing the mosh or some indie-schmoes putting going through the motions (probably a little of both), but it was such pandemonium, it almost didn't matter.

I started communicating with Omid and picked up their first single and album on Troubleman Records which were both cool. We found out we had a little conversation once on the subway platform at the East Broadway stop on the F line while I was helping my girlfriend move since he struck up a conversation about the Grief shirt I was wearing I bought at the CroMags/ Grief/ Queers show at Middlesex County College in '94. Dude was from Virginia originally, did some time in Enemy Soil, and knew his music (punk, metal, rock, and hardcore) inside and out. No wonder the Battletorn shit worked so well. We hit it off and decided to start working together putting out some Battletorn stuff on Mad at the World.

[Some more early Battletorn]


In the meantime, the singer Beverly left and Battletorn carried on as a two piece. I don't want to say I was skeptical, but I was a little bit curious how this would pan out, because I normally think of two-piece bands as a little bit gimmicky, but Battletorn continued to deliver. Their stuff got a bit darker, incorporated a bit more of the late 80's British thrashy hardcore style into their sound, and they got a ton more focused. We did the Burn Fast 7" with them, and then even when Omid moved to Nashville, TN, they kept it together and did the Terminal Dawn LP, a couple more tours, including the US, UK, and Japan. Some people didn't get it, some didn't like it, but with some people, it just clicked, and they loved the way this band managed their shit. From the first damn note on I saw of them, I'm one of the latter.

Everything they seemed to do was short, focused, and to the point (from their sets to their songs, from their tours to their recording process). It was never over-thought, but always well executed. Even though they developed this black and white aesthetic with hand-drawn, simple cover art, and minimal bells and whistles in the layout, it always turns out clean and well done. Working with these guys, I can honestly say there's a high quality control in there. I'm always comfortable giving them the reigns and letting them go to town on a project, however they want to get it done.
They recorded what now promises to be the final songs of their output comprising the Reflect the Filth LP (although some additional tracks from the same session might very well wind up on a split 7" with Double Negative), and may continue to play shows here and there after they some more jaunts here and there upon the release of the LP, but it seems like it might otherwise be the end of the road for Battletorn.

The test presses came in for Reflect the Filth, and they just sound awesome. Vinyl just carries this band's sound (and many others, for sure) so much better than any other format, and the LP has a larger number of mid-paced bangers (which I think Battletorn does best) than their previous efforts, I'm very excited to see this thing come out soon. I'm also proud to have had the chance to work with a band that surprised me and had me by the throat from the first note on. Thanks, dudes.




Reflect the Filth is on pre-order now. I imagine it'll be shipping in mid to late April. Pick it up here!!!

Battletorn- Reflect the Filth LP up for pre-order + MATW webstore update

In case you stumble on here every now and then, I just wanted to direct your attention to a new Battletorn record and some webstore updates. More Battletorn news and posts on the horizon!

The last Battletorn LP "Reflect the Filth" is now up for pre-order. Test presses to be approved this week, so we hope to be able to ship these things in early/ mid April. Pre-order now, since MATW is only getting 150, in all likelihood, the only mailorder copies we'll have will be the pre-order copies, everything else will go to the distributors and will be gone in a heartbeat.



MW1205 Batttletorn- Reflect the Filth LP
Pre-order here
Despite becoming a two-city in 2007, the NYC/ Nashville thrash-duo William and Omid soldiered on and continued to lay musical waste to all that crossed their path, managing a tour of Japan in the process. The ingredients to Battletorn's vision are few and simple, but they deliver such a ferocious thrash/ punk/ metal/ hardcore mania that you'd never guess there's only two of them. Perhaps the words of others describe them best: "With nothing to hide behind, be it longwinded, cryptic lyrics, 'majestic' album art or dense and overdone production, Battletorn come quickly, come prejudicially, and it’s all over before one’s able to really process what has transpired." (LeftHandPath) Reflect the Filth will be the band's final full-length offering, and compiles 8 studio tracks recorded at The Thousand Caves with Behold... The Arctopus' Colin Marston at the knobs on the A-side. Side B has a complete live set (clocking in at 15 minutes, it's the band's longest) recorded in Tokyo on the last night of their Japanese tour. In continuing the tradition of their over-before-you-know-it aesthetic, the 12" will be limited to 500 copies which promise to be gone rather quickly. The records is a split release between Mad at the World (New York/ Montreal), Grrman Records (UK), and Challenge the Throne (US/ Cal).

Still hot:
Cheap Tragedies- Volume 1: Souvenirs and Evidence LP
(Clear vinyl still available)

Other new stuff in the MATW webstore:
CLICK TO SEE THE NEW STUFF AT A GLANCE

New stuff from: Prank Records, Don Giovanni, No Idea, Fashionable Idiots, Grave Mistake, Insane Society, No Way, Punks Before Profits, X-Mist, Deadbeat

Coming soon: stuff from Trabuc Records (Spain), Sorry State (US), Hardware (Ger), Youngblood (US), Lifeline (US), Kangaroo (NL), and more.


LPs:
Insomnio- Happy Loneliness LP (No Way Records)
Hjertestop- Vi Ses I Helvede LP (No Way Records)
See You in Hell- Utol LP (Insane Society)
Malignant Tumour- In Full Swing LP (Insane Society)
Vivisick- Respect and Hate LP (Insane Society)
Consume- s/t LP (Insane Society)
Chronic Seizure- Ancient Wound LP (Fashionable Idiots)
Dustheads- Little Pieces LP (Don Giovanni)
His Hero is Gone- 15 Counts of Arson LP (Prank)
Paintbox- Earthball Sports Tournament LP (Prank)
Pantbox- Singing Shouting Crying LP (Prank)
Gauze- Binbou Yusuri No Rizumu Ni Notte LP (Prank)
Planes Mistaken for Stars- Up the in the Guts LP (No Idea)
Planes Mistaken for Stars- Mercy LP (No Idea)
Lifetime- s/t LP (No Idea)
Off With Their Heads- From the Bottom LP (No Idea)
Hot Water Music- til the Wheels Fall Off double LP (No Idea)
World Inferno Friendship Society- Me Vs. Angry Mob 12" (No Idea)
Vaz- Dying to Meet You LP (X-Mist)
Vaz- Demonstrations in Micronesia LP (restock) (X-Mist)
Ex-Models- Chrome Panthers LP (X-Mist)
Hostages of Ayatollah- AntHOAlogy double LP + DVD (X-Mist)
Abductee SD- Won't Stand Down LP (Punks Before Profits)
Short Fuse-s/t LP (Assault Records)
Mac Blackout- s/t LP (Deadbeat)
Le Face- Isolation LP (Deadbeat)
Daily Void- Identification Code.. LP (restock) (Deadbeat)



7"
Artimus Pyle- Tonight is the End of Your Way 7" (Insane Society)
Pink Reason- Borrowed Time 7" (Fashionable Idiots)
Homostupids- Cat Music 7" (Fashionable Idiots)
Born Bad- Moron Music 7" (Fashionable Idiots)
Herds- s/t 7" (Fashionable Idiots)
Cheap Tragedies- s/t 7" (High Anxiety)
Reprobates- Stress 7" (No Way)
Bunny Skulls- one sided 7" (Punks Before Profits)
the State- Santimony 7" (Punks Before Profits)
No Justice- Still Fighting 7" (Underestimated)
Violent Arrest- Criminal Record double 7" (Grave Mistake)
Government Warning- Arrested 7" (Grave Mistake)
Nightstick Justice- Claustrophobic 7" (Grave Mistake)
Direct Control- s/t 7" (Grave Mistake)
Short Fuse- Blight 7" (Assault Records)
Short Fuse- Fruitless Efforts 7" (Assault Records)


CD:
Guided Cradle- You Will Not Survive CD (Insane Society)
Guided Cradle- s/t CD (Insane Society)
Malignant Tumour- In Full Swing CD (Insane Society)

CT's Souvenirs and Evidence, Volume One

I have to admit there's an awful lot I rather hate about putting out records. I hate filling out all the forms, coordinating with multiple companies and suppliers, trying to get everything shipped to the appropriate places (which has been made even more complicated when I moved up to Montreal). But getting the records in my hand finally is a treat and probably the most satisfying aspect of the whole endeavor. I wouldn't say it "makes it all worth it" because that other nonsense still is a pain. But being able to put a record you worked on on your record shelf next to other favorites is definitely a trip.

Pressing records has gotten progressively more expensive and we've had to raise some of our prices (both wholesale and retail) recently in order to stay afloat, which I still hate doing, but it's necessary. With this Cheap Tragedies LP, I wanted to spare no expense because I knew the recording would come out awesome. (Well, almost no expense; I had to nix the idea of a million different colored vinyl versions since we couldn't afford that.) All told, the damn thing cost me about a year's worth of rent, and I dare say it was worth it. I just want to share a few stories on how to came about. Below will be part 1 of my musings.

I hadn't known Tony Erba was in a new band when he sent me an email on myspace about it. I guess he was hitting people up he had worked with previously in other bands and MATW put out a 9 Shocks disc after we met when they played the house I was living at in NJ in '01 (Step Sister played there in '02 as well.) Now, I rather hate myspace communications because myspace has a knack for crashing my browser and just taking a long time to get anything done, so I'm often very late in responding to messages there. I guess Tony was eager to get the ball rolling, and he's an impatient mofo, so 2-3 days later I get another message basically saying "Thanks for not listening to my band's demo, asshole!" So I told emailed him told him about my email woes and asked him to take it easy. Funny thing is, I definitely wanted to hear this, if only because it was Tony's new band, he's back on vocals, and also because the last "ex-9 Shocks" band that asked us to do something was the Homostupids, which I wish we would have jumped on (that's another funny story though).

When I did listen to the Cheap Tragedies demo, I was taken aback. I didn't know what I was expecting, but it was nothing like what I was expecting. Much more tuneful than Tony's immediately preceding hardcore efforts, and Erba even carries a tune! On first listen I kind of pegged it a more melodic, late 80's hardcore affair, which was well executed, but not typically something I get terribly excited about. On repeated listens though, there was definitely a lot going on there-- tight musicianship, creative song structures, interesting leads, and a definite rust-belt rock influence beaming through the songs. Yeah, I did want to do something with these dudes....

Tony and I spent some time going back and forth brainstorming-- seems he wanted us to do their LP. OK, but LPs are expensive-- can I afford this? MATW certainly couldn't, but with a little saving on my part, I could probably front the money. "Cool, now we've got this great deal to record at Mars studio, could you front the money for this?" "Uhhh....." So I did. Things were quiet for a while, and recording updates seemed to indicate things were going smooth--- except they needed just a little bit more dough. Fine.

Then one day I'm relaxing at home on a weekend on the eve of Cheap Tragedies finishing up laying down all the tracks in the studio, and I get a soul-bearing email from Tony about how he loves his bands, can't stop playing music, totally wants to do right by us for helping out his band (which is pretty much what I've experienced from the guy, so it was kind of known already, but it was touching to see it in print), BUT-- he's absolutely fed up with those dudes and can't take it anymore. He's leaving! DOH! Needless to say I was quite bummed. I put together a quick response-- "don't sweat it, we'll figure something out," but I can't help but feel super bummed about CT's potential demise. I stewed on it for a little bit, crunched some numbers, and figured I could still break even on the whole thing on the strength of the band's members' reputation and whatnot, and decided not to stress too much.



Then I actually heard the record. Even as a rough mix, it was a monster. To say "epic" didn't even do it justice. The guitars were loud, the drumming fierce, rumbling bass, screeching leads, and Tony laid down an absolutely intense vocal performance. He wasn't lying when he said it was his best. The lyrics (what I could make out of them) were totally on point as well. In spite of the fact that there was some precision musicianship on those tracks, the songs could barely contain the energy. So much going on on this record, and it was still a hardcore record from top to bottom. I was totally floored, and listened to the damn thing 5 times in a row when I finally got it. No wonder dude was so stressed out; from the sound of it, these guys must have fuckin' labored in the studio like nobody's business. I composed a lengthy email to Tony expressing my thoughts about the record: they wrote and recorded one hell of a record. Not only was it a good-- nay, great-- record, but I'd go so far as to say they went above and beyond and recorded an important record. As in, one that would be listened to and sought after years from now. I wrote that a lot of bands who reach that caliber probably couldn't stand each other but that somehow it just works. I thought it would be worthwhile for them to stay together, and listening to the thing, I'm not surprised they didn't come close to murdering each other. (Ian later confided in me, for example, that on one particular day, he was recording drum tracks for 10 hours straight.) But if it really was the end of the road, it would still be a great record and one I'd be proud to put out. The response: he'd try not to stab the other members of the band, so they stayed together.

(Part 2 coming soon. Not to worry, the story has a happy ending, and these dudes obviously don't hate each other.)

Cheap Tragedies LP shipping!

So of course it took a little bit longer than expected/ hoped, but 1) still not so bad in hardcore time, and 2) everything turned out awesome. The Cheap Tragedies LPs are starting to ship now, and the pre-orders will be the first to go out. (If you pre-ordered, you'll get e-mail notification this week as well.) Below you'll find a picture of the clear vinyl (limited to 300), and the gatefold cover with the nice mug of Jane Fonda. And if you needed to still hear them by now, here's how:

http://www.myspace.com/cheaptragedieshc
http://www.matwrecords.com/graphics/11Ain'tDeadYet.mp3

http://www.matwrecords.com/catalog/




The screened covers the band made for their record release show were sold in a heartbeat. The band is getting their copies shortly (in transit now) and will have them for the next show in February for sure. Speaking of their record release show, here it was:

CHEAP TRAGEDIES in Canada

So Cheap Tragedies came on a little Canadian jaunt and played a show in Toronto (Burlington, actually) and Montreal with us screwballs, Omegas. Good times, plenty of hi-jinx, and a good amount of recuperating afterwards.

The good folks at Hardtimes.ca came out to the show at LBH in Montreal and interviewed Cheap Tragedies and put together a montage of some of the show footage, both of which you can find below:





LP is recorded and sounds incredible. Their 7" on High Anxiety 416 is supposed to come out this week (?) and their Livewire Records 7" will be out soon as well. Expect the LP to be out on MATW sometime this summer.