Batillus/Hallowed Butchery Split LP [Vendetta]

Batillus: a band comprised of members of bands such as A Storm of Light and Inswarm and takes extreme doom to the extreme. Described by many as an ultra slow doom outfit, and this being my first experience with their sound, I have to say that they honestly seem to be a lot more diverse in styles than they are given. Listening to the “Children of the Night Make Their Music” track, they remind me more of bands like Flood and Cervix, Beast in the Field, maybe Elder in spots as well, but the name-dropping isn’t the important part here. The three installments by Batillus are epic and psychedelic doom inspired tracks, they have megaton weighted riffs, an almost Isis/Minsk atmosphere in areas that is equal parts dense and melodic, and a great variation of tempos. At some points it’s an all out free-for-all jam fest of boogie grooves and heavy psyche components, then it’s this calm black ocean that begins to stir from a massive storm building up beneath the ominous surface that becomes the gargantuan riffs of gloom and doom that strike down upon the listener without any warning. To me it’s mixing the brilliance of bands like Isis/Minsk and throw in some doom and cataclysmic disparity of Evoken/Esoteric, then add a huge amount of classic doom rhythms and you get somewhere in the vicinity of what is here.

Hallowed Butchery: a solo prog-doom project masterfully pulled off by Ryan Scott Fairfield makes up the last portion of this split with his ambitious and brilliant “Coffin Life”.’
Everything that you could ever want in a band, all of the best influences and sounds whipped up into this 14 minute hurricane of audio. It’s damn near impossible to accept that it’s ALL Ryan doing this too. The vocal styles change, the guitars, bass, drum, and synth work is flawless and it’s mixed so well that you’d swear that it was a full band.

Released on Vendetta Records (Germany)