battalion is as follows:daniel grout........a.nigh herndon....ryan swafford(fell)
There is no fat on Tank Battalion Attack. There are no extraneous parts. It includes no superfluous gestures. It is taut, compact, and direct, and it is built of terse, elemental musical components. Yet they are arranged with such craft and cunning--such artistry, even--that the music itself is often stunningly complex. Consider "pt1 mute movement." Essentially, it's a set of dark synth-voices and odd chip-sounds over an incredibly insistent drum pattern. Aurally, it's pure 21st century, post-everything, deep electronics. But the beat itself could be ancient and would conjure up the same otherworldly spirit if it was played on a hollowed out log or a stretched animal skin. Likewise the synth lines-dissonant but still tonal, and utterly melancholy-would have been right at home in the Mahler's Vienna. Is it ominous? It's positively apocalyptic. And with the strange blend of the ancient and the post-modern, you can't even be sure which siecle is it that's about to fin. Indeed, instability and uncertainty would seem to be the twin hallmarks of this release. For just as Tank Battalion Attack destabilize the notions of ancient and modern, so too they have their same mischievous way with Noise and Music, Growth and Stasis, Human and Mechanical. Fact is, these guys seem intent on deconstructing everything in their path. To wit: "pt3 apostate movement" features a woman's scream immediately followed by a relentlessly menacing (albeit gorgeous) percussion lick that sounds as lethal and efficient as a thresher. Now I don't think you have to be paranoid to infer a dire scenario from this particular sequence of sounds. (Of course, the subtle magic of juxtaposition demands that any other interpretations be equally valid.) But on the very next track, "pt4 cadense," under a martial rhythm and more macabre harmonies, human voices again appear. But this time they're electronically manipulated to such a degree that their words loose all meaning. These obviously human sounds have become as abstract as any of the analogue synth derived tones in the Tank Battalion Attack armory. So what's going on? Do we have Human against Machine? Human as Machine? Machine becoming Human? There's no answer of course- just the smoldering wreckage of another false dichotomy handily destroyed. In the end, this recording not only has enough sonic bravura to warrant repeated listening, but enough depth of concept to reward repeated contemplation. Which is certainly not to say that it's like some kind of homework assignment. God forbid. True, Tank Battalion Attack is no party record; and true it has a sinister core. But it's not without its lighter moments. "pt2 rumor movement," for instance, is an energetic duet for analogue synth sounds and trancey percussion, that manages to be tuneful even while avoiding anything as mundane as melody. And the final track-"pt5 complex pause movement-is, especially in light of what's preceded it, practically a romp, with a lovely synth-tone introduction giving way to a swirling minimalist carrousel of sound. Some machines, it would seem, really know how to have a good time. (Review by Dave Keifer)
I created my own profile using nUCLEArcENTURy.COM and you should too!
