Battles - Mirrored

After Helmet broke up Jon Stainer didn't jump into playing drums with just any band, he waited until he found the right fit. It was worth the wait, with Battles he found like minded musicians who were interested in pushing boundaries technically and sonically. They could all show off their skills as musicians as well as composers, and they sure as hell show off. After releasing a few EP's to gain some underground buzz, Mirrored came out and they were held in high esteem by the musical elite. Hipsters everywhere also started to practice their instruments again.

It's pretty much been agreed upon that Battles have taken music a step ahead of everyone else. I got to open for Battles at last year's Evolve Festival, but I was too wasted to even think of approaching them. I spent their set laying in the grass listening to them with my eyes closed to keep the world from spinning, and also because every time I opened my eyes I just saw too much weird shit (guys in Gorilla suits setting off fireworks, fire dancers, a juggler dressed as The Joker, etc..). It was still a hell of an experience, they played everything picture perfect live, and it was one intense evening.

Mirrored kicks in with one of the best opening tracks I have ever heard, Race: in, and Stainer doesn't wait long to start kicking ass. After an odd time count on his snare rim he kicks in with a beat that seems like he is trying to fit as many ghost notes into a measure as possible. He trained as an orchestral drummer, and it shows. His rhythm sounds like rudiments being played lightning fast between the high hats and snare, and he throws in these crazy triplet fills in between. If you are a drummer and have never heard this track, make sure no one is around when you hear it for the first time, because it will probably give you a boner.

When Atlas comes in Stainer plays a tom beat that sounds like The Beautiful People, but he lets it grow within the song and it takes on a different feel by the end of it. Throw in some triplets with a powerful snare/cymbal hit on the one, and you have an interesting piece of music. Ddiamond has some odd time goodness, along with some crazy snare rolls thrown in. Tonto has a disco type beat you can dance to, and is probably the most laid back song on the record.
Each song has it's own flavor. Leyendecker sort of feels like a hard hip hop groove, Prismism is sort of a short, lo-fi song, but everything comes to fruition in the 8 minute epic, Rainbow.

Rainbow has some speedy tom rolls, snare work that hardly even makes sense, and there is even a point where it sounds like he is maintaining both hands on the snare and somehow playing a pattern on his high hat. I don't fucking know what the hell is going on half of the time with the drums on this record, and I'm an analyzing freak.

While I do love Battles, I would like to not be lumped in as the typical Battles fan, because most strict Battles fans can be arrogant and elitist (not all, but some). While I recognize their importance I don't think they are the sole purveyors of important, impressive music. I find myself getting in discussions about Battles more than I would like to, so I like to piss people off sometimes and say that I don't see the difference between a band like Battles and say, a band like Dream Theater. Basically, the intention of both bands is the same, they try to make technically difficult music, and they are constantly trying to one up themselves and others around them. Just because Battles is considered "cool" by critics and Dream Theater isn't doesn't make this statement less true. Sure, they make completely different kinds of music, but in both of their circles they are held to the same standard. Some people might argue that DT's vocals are cheesy in which case I just point out that most of the vocals on Mirrored sound like Elmo singing through a Vocoder.

So if ever you find yourself with a half hour to kill, find a Battles fan and throw that at them to see how they react.

Hell, what's the point of being a drummer if you can't entertain yourself?


Audio/Visual Evidence : Race: in, Atlas, Race: Out