Artist: Battlestations
Label: Self-released
Release: 2011
Duration: 11:27
Rating: 4.1/5
After their fantastic self-titled debut, Belgium’s Battlestations, true to their experimental nature, have once again spun their elusive musical cobwebs into something abstractly inconceivable, something hard to put into words, something formless yet with more than enough substance. If their debut Battlestations was a conglomerate of genres and styles and above all a search for focus (which worked great, by the way), Return / Mr. Abject EP is far more defined. Not conventionally defined, which is absolutely the right call, but more focused, more segmented, with the feeling that the band has started to rein in its chaotic sound. That doesn’t mean Return / Mr. Abject EP can simply be pigeonholed like most of today’s music. The music is still elusive. Maybe the signposts are just a bit clearer.
Return / Mr. Abject EP keeps in touch with the debut mainly through the by-now trademark menacing interplay of acoustic and electric guitars. Electronic manipulation is still around, but noticeably less so, and the very construction of the EP also edges toward the experimental post-punk of the late eighties and those bolder post-rock sounds. The music is still wrapped in a veil of mystery, which it shares with the band itself, but it reveals a bit more of itself on its own. It becomes manageable for the listener’s ears and comes across as something more coherent, and gentler in its disobedience than the band’s debut.
The band’s second studio release therefore works as a kind of bridge to their upcoming musical expression. A little bridge from the early search for musical forms and the blending of countless influences into something more mature. And even though it gains in listenability and recognizability (in terms of memorable melodies), it loses some of that primal chaos, that raw experimentation they showed off on their debut. Still, it’s an excellent release, made for everyone who already knows the band or is only just getting to know them.
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After the release of their fantastic self-titled debut, Belgian band Battlestations, as it is in their experimental nature, created, through their highly elusive musical formations, something that is again abstractly unthinkable, something that is so hard to put into words, something without form and yet with enough substance to go on with. Their debut Battlestations was a conglomerate of genres and musical styles, it was their search for somethind definable (which worked perfectly well), but Return / Mr. Abject EP is, in comparison, much more defined. Not conventionally defined, but defined nonetheless – more oriented, divided in definable parts. It feels like the band started to cut back on their all-over-the-place sound. That doesn’t mean that Return / Mr. Abject EP can be simply assigned one label and go with it. Their music is still very elusive in that way. But the band definitely set some guidelines.
Return / Mr. Abject EP is connected to the band’s debut primarily through their by-now typical intertwining electric and acoustic guitars. Their electronic manipulation is still there, but it’s been really reduced. Those guidelines pushed their music into a more familiar area – their sound comes close to the more experimental post-punk groups of the 80’s era and the more advantageous post-rock groups of the 90’s. The music itself is still somehow hidden in the veil of mystery, like the band itself, but is, at the same time, much more out in the open as the music on the debut. The listener’s ears can manage the sounds more clearly and the music is much more coherent altogether.
The band’s second studio effort therefore represents some kind of a bridge to their potential musical expression. A bridge from adolescence to adulthood. But even though their music is much more recognizable and melodic (and therefore easier to remember), it lost some of that primordial chaos, that primal experimentation that was really what made their debut such an impressionable experience. Nonetheless, Return / Mr. Abject EP is a great release and should be listened by those who already know of the band and by those who are only getting acquainted with them.
Line-up
Not known.
Track list
Return / Mr. Abject
