Battle of Mice - A Day of Nights (Neurot)
3/5
By: Charlie Potter
Let's get this out of the way - Battle of Mice sound a lot like Neurosis, a fact which is not that surprising considering they are after all on Neurosis' own record label. They're a super group of sorts, consisting of members of Red Sparowes (sic), Made out of Babies, Book of Knots, and a drummer who's played with everyone from Elvis Costello and Tom Waits to Unsane. But make no mistake, there's no 'Oliver's Army' on parade around here, with the emphasis placed very much on slow, colossally heavy but deceptively sparse use of drums and guitars.
They by no means possess the same incredible dynamic that Neurosis own, nor indeed the sound of most of the bands they are individually better known for. The resulting tone ends up as a cross between those of Neurosis and Isis, which has led to them having a particularly stark sonic presence. One has to give them credit for being genuinely unrelenting and harrowing - this is by no means the work of a pop band.
But although they come across with sincerity and passion, they lack a diversity of sound. This'll mean they'll somehow likely appeal to an audience more friendly to bands unafraid to sit within the conventions of certain genres rather than pushing any boundaries, but one worries that such love affairs tend to be short lived. Even if it meant compromising their winning starkness, they'd be all the more challenging and rewarding for trying something a little different here and there.
However, one way in which Battle of Mice do differ from their contemporaries is with their unique vocal style, one which sees the use of lyrics of an usually personal nature for music of this sort. Vocally very reminiscent of Aimee Echo of Human Waste Project and The Start, at times BoM's leading lady's vocals work fantastically (usually the times she's attempting to scream her guts up). Alas, sometimes she'll be singing stuff which sounds like it could have done with one or two more revisions, and whilst it's not that I have anything against poetic ranting devoid of recognisable melody, there are a few too many pointless analogies, when coming out and saying what she wanted to say would have worked much better. Most people prefer honesty to cleverness.
The overall sound can be brilliant, guttural, heart wrenching stuff, at times more so than many bands of this ilk, but it just doesn't quite equate to a whole album's worth of worthwhile music. Battle of Mice would next do well to release a whole bunch of EPs trying out everything and anything to prepare themselves to record a better follow up full length.
Artists in this article: Battle of Mice
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