If you want a clue as to where Battalions are coming from, try this. “I was reading an article online about the decline of humanity, the battering of Earth’s resources, the financial and human cost of war, global warming, and how the world’s leaders are partly to blame,” says bassist Matt Dennett. “The article ended with ‘who wants to be the king of a dead world?’” So, laughs are in short supply on the Kingston-Upon-Hull riff lords’ new one, but there’s also a weird sense of dancing in the (acid) rain. What they have loads of is massive, heavy guitars and sludge explosions that could block a drainpipe. With a similar handle on a groove as Sabbath, Clutch and Sleep, they are a spring-loaded riff machine, with a hardcore edge that ups the rage of th...