Batillus releases really creepy first video

Brooklyn industrial doom outfit Batillus have released their first ever video, and it's just about as creepy as you would expect. The song is "Concrete" from the album Concrete Sustain, which was released earlier this year.

Five Questions with Batillus

Well, this heavy-music week sure had gotten off to a great start because Agalloch put on one of the top shows I've ever seen in my life last night at Kings. More on that in my next post.

To round out the week we have the Metalliance Tour tomorrow night in Greensboro, Batillus/Hull/Caltrop at Reservoir on Wednesday, Devour/Arabrot/Wizard Rifle at Kings on Friday and The Body at Motorco on Saturday. I'm sure there's something happening on Thursday too. I hope you're following my lead and resting up tonight.

Brooklyn industrial doom band Batillus impressed me with their crushing, gnawing sound when I saw them with Kowloon Walled City and Machete! at Dive Bar back in September. Their first official full-length, the Sanford Parker-produced "Furnace," will be out in April, but if you check the answers below, there's going to be a pretty cool tour-only vinyl edition available.

Even though I'm telling you to go to this show, I unfortunately probably won't be there. My BF got us tickets to see Prince, which is that same evening at RBC. I know myself well enough to know that after a show like that, I probably won't want to hop in the car and drive to Carrboro. If you're not going to see Prince, or if you have more stamina than me, you need to be at Reservoir for this show.


1. The first time I ever Googled you guys, I found all kinds of info about this big-ass supertanker, which I thought was pretty apt considering your massive, heavy-laden sound. Who's the maritime history buff in the band, and what did you find so inspiring about this vessel?

greg: i guess that would be me. i'd been reading a book about the history of measurements, and there was a section about supertankers. we were in need of a name at the time, and Batillus seemed totally fitting, as you realized.

2. A lot has been written about how Fade Kainer helped take the band in a more industrial direction when he joined the band. Was this a direction you wanted to go in, and did you seek him out for this reason? Or did the sound mostly evolve after you began collaborating?

Willi: I think it happened after he joined; but we knew that he would bring that sound to the band, and it was definitely something we wanted.

3. How come y'all don't like Waffle House? You're going to have a hard time finding late-night food in the South if you put them on your banned list.

Fade: After spending a few days in a hotel room reenacting the exorcist a few tours ago I cant bring myself to eat there again.

Willi: Staring at a plate of raw hash browns & lukewarm eggs swimming in frying grease at 3am is enough to send any Yankee a-runnin'. What you need to have more of is 24-hour BBQ! I can eat that for all 3 meals, no problem. (Editors note: I totally agree with the 24-hour BBQ idea)

4. Tell us about the new album, and the tour-only vinyl version you'll have on the road.

Geoff: The album is called 'Furnace,' and it's our first true full-length. We recorded it with Sanford Parker in Chicago, who was really a pleasure to work with. The tour-only version is basically a pre-release pressing limited to 55. The LPs themselves are hand-stamped and hand numbered, the jackets are hand-silk-screened, and once they're gone, they're gone. We just wanted to give our friends and fans something a little more personal and collectible than a shrink wrapped CD, you know?

5. What do you think is a good social media strategy for bands? Are you as tired of Myspace as every other band I know, and if so, have you found any other site that works better.

Geoff: I don't know, I mean, the internet is constantly changing. Who has the time to keep up? MySpace one day, Facebook the next. Twitter. Basically, for us, we just want to make information about our music and shows easy to find for people. We don't want people to have to go on a wild goose chase just to find out when our next show is or how they can get our records. That's the most important thing for us.

Fade: We started our own blog site batillusdoom.com, just so we can keep the info consistent and available to people.

Photos and video of Batillus, Kowloon Walled City and Machete!

(Batillus)

I have to say, last week's Nachtmystium show put me in a bit of a funk. Not only did I not get much photo-wise, but I was just really disappointed that so few people saw the show. When several friends told me I simply had to see Kowloon Walled City and Batillus (above) on Tuesday at Dive Bar, I decided to check the show out and see if it put me in a better mood. I knew very little about both bands, but ended up loving them both. 

The show suffered a bit from competition with the Wormrot show over at Volume 11. Seriously, why is it that we can go weeks without a good metal show, then have two must-see touring shows on the same night? Regardless, the turnout was fairly respectable, for a Tuesday night, and I think everyone had a good time. 

Living up to my promise to do a little better in the photo department, I also got some advice from a real photographer, Greg Cristman, who got some nice shots of the Nachtmystium tour for Brooklyn Vegan. I was happy with the results. 

(Kowloon Walled City)

The singer from Kowloon Walled City threw me off when he came onstage and announced the band as Batillus (you hear that on the video). As I said, I wasn't terribly familiar with either band, so it was only halfway through the set that I realized they were playing some KWC songs I'd been listening to just that day. 

Kowloon Walled City from Mann's World on Vimeo.

During Batillus' set, there was a suddenly a strong odor of burning plastic, and several people rushed onstage to see what was up. Since I had to be at work early today, I thought that was a good time to make my exit. I guess everything turned out OK. I didn't see anything on WRAL about the club burning down. 

Batillus from Mann's World on Vimeo.

(Machete!)

The best surprise of the evening was Charlotte doom duo Machete! I'm looking forward to seeing them again. 

Machete! from Mann's World on Vimeo.