The Battery Farm has been making a name for itself around the UK, especially in Manchester. The four-piece has become the frontrunner in the punk scene with its gritty instrumentation, ferocious vocals, and hard-hitting lyrics. Following the success of their album, they return with their double A-side House Of Pain/A Time Of Peace.
The group’s 2021 EP gave an exciting insight into what The Battery Farm is all about. Two years later, the band has expressed more anger, experimentation, and injustice within their music and lyrics. Their latest singles take their artistry that next step further.
House Of Pain is explosive from the start with the firey distorted guitars and galloping drums assulting your eardrums. Not to be compared with the hip-hop trio of the same name, this House Of Pain is dark, powerful, and as guttural as the band has ever been. It’s a track that targets the ongoing financial and social crisis in Britain that divides people into class and wealth.
The band has always been strong in their working-class routes, and House Of Pain is no different with the energy of constantly being kicked down by society bleeding out from the vocals and instrumentation. Even though the track is amped up dramatically it still has that custom Battery Farm sound.
The fast punk guitars battle it out with scratchy pained vocals and rarely drop their tempo. The drum fills are delightful whilst Sonic Youth-style effects rain out from the guitars. The bass break is moody and the guitars wail in the darkness. The entry into the chorus is the catchy line ‘Welcome To The House Of Pain’, and whilst there are brutal vocals, the track lets the instrumentation do the talking.
The group’s 2022 album had some raucous tracks, but it’s nothing in comparison to House Of Pain. This is a track that implodes and explodes within itself like a nuclear blast. It doesn’t stop the intensity and upon its closure, you can breathe again.
A Time For Peace continues the distaste in society that the previous track does. However this time the focus is on the current climate that could be considered ‘peaceful’ in the UK even though all factors considered it is far from it. From food crisis, social clashes and governmental disgust, A Time Of Peace is a short but punchy punk track.
Clocking in at 1:12, this short song still makes the most of its timescale. The guitars are cleaner and faster and feel a lot more classic punk than the band’s usual guttural styling. The vocals are deeper and more unclean in the outro and aim to break the foundations of society. It gives us less variety than House Of Pain, but it is a powerful and endearing piece that captures the spirit of downtrodden folk.
If you’ve enjoyed what you’ve heard from The Battery Farm so far, brace yourselves for some of their best work yet.
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