Rare Vitamin Records – 26th July 2024
Christopher Nosnibor
The accompanying blurb informs us that “‘O God’ is the 13th single from Manchester Doom Punks The Battery Farm’, and promises that ‘The single marks a bold expansion of the band’s signature Gutter Punk sound, adding elements of UK Garage and Metal to an already potent mix to create something dark, heavy, taut and unhinged.’
It’s quite phenomenal that they’ve racked up thirteen singles in what feels like a fairly short time. But this is a band who are absolutely driven, driven to make music and get it out there. They’ve grafted hard, and scoring increasingly high-profile support slots has done a lot in terms of reaching a wider audience, and it’s richly deserved. And I don’t mean it’s deserved simply because they’ve worked hard: they wouldn’t deserve it if they sucked! But they kick serious ass, and possess the one thing no amount of effort and luck or songwriting skill or musicianship can get you, and that’s authenticity. And with Rare Vitamin Records, they’ve found a label who are more than happy to provide a platform to their high-volume output, with this being the fifth single on the label (and it looks like the 7” has sold already, so hard luck vinyl enthusiasts, and CDs are running low already, too).
Unlike many acts from the punkier end of the spectrum, they’re by no means anti-intellectual, or given to base anti-establishment sloganeering (as my introduction to the band, ‘A Shropshire Lad’ abundantly evidenced. It’s a rare position they occupy, balancing poeticism and introversion, and deep reflection, with brute sonic force. On this front, ‘O God’ is exemplary.
As they explain, ‘O God explores the idea of being alone in a universe of chaos, with no guiding hand to stop you plummeting into a hell of someone else’s making. We always ask why, and we always search for meaning. ‘O God’ reflects starkly on the idea that there is no why and there is no meaning. Just one action leading to the next, merciless and unfeeling. Is that a thought infinitely more terrifying than the guidance of His healing hand? Or is it just life?’
The timing of this release couldn’t be better: half of America seems to be frothing at the mouth over the ‘divine intervention’ which saved Donald Trump from a sniper’s bullet just the other week, proclaiming that he has been ‘chosen by God’ to lead America and the world, while at the same time, the IDF continues to pulverise every inch of the Gaza Strip, reducing buildings to rubble under the pretext of revenge, of rescuing hostages, and eliminating terrorists. But ultimately, it’s about reclaiming land some see as having been God-given. And where is God in all this? He seems strangely silent, yet those of a certain mindset are absolutely convinced this is all God’s will. For those of us not of this mindset, it seems deranged, and that humanity is off the rails, and we live in disturbing, and truly terrifying times.
This renders the sentiment of ‘O God’ remarkably prescient.
It pairs a nagging, vaguely mathy, snaking bass groove with guitars that sounds like a bulldozer, atop which Benjamin Corry delivers a quivering, tremulous vocal in the verses, and then swings between menacing and absolutely bruising in the explosive choruses. It all adds up to a blindingly intense two-and-three-quarter minutes which conveys the complexities of internal conflict and existential anguish with a rare – and raw – power.
Flipside, the acoustic, ‘Find’ showcases a far gentler side of the band, and its intimate, tranquil feel is genuinely pleasant.
Once again – and again – The Battery Farm have excelled themselves and delivered something immensely powerful and uniquely their own.
AA
Aural Aggravation 