• Album: Divine Intervention
There are two things I know about hard-rock outfit Battery: former Breed-man Mike Turner sings and plays guitar, while former Brownbeat All-stars drummer extraordinaire Jay Alviar beats the skins. Bassist Glen Cornelio is no slouch, either, in the supergroup department.
The second thing I know is that Battery is now reportedly a "Christian rock" band. This should not deter listeners who think that rock energy and skill cannot thrive outside a small coven of Satan worshippers. Divine Intervention (the title should tip listeners off) is a little less metallic than the band’s debut album, but no less crammed with passion and playing.
This is the band’s second CD, and you probably haven’t heard it yet (except for the single and video, Supercharged) because Battery have yet to find a label to release it. Alviar tells me they’re thinking of going the "indy" route: paying all the recording/pressing costs themselves and launching it sans record label interference. Godspeed to them.
The kickoff tune, Supercharged, is a hummer: slam metal riffs and apocalyptic fury, not unlike old Metallica or Black Sabbath. But the lyrics paraphrase the Gospel (Don’t dig up a seed that won’t grow/Don’t build up your life on the sand). Nimble drumming is often sorely lacking in metal bands; skinmen usually settle for lightning stick rattles signifying nothing, or worse, dub/reggae cliches. Alviar has a more graceful touch, moving about each tune with an appropriate level of skill and fill. He would be a credit to any metal band.
Turner’s tunes are more melodic than your standard metal (the second cut, Fly, is almost mellow) and the guitar work is exemplary, if not always transcendent. Many choruses resort to overfamiliar metal progressions, but the playing throughout is balanced and clean. Weird Steve Vai-type vocal effects appear on Interlude, and the Zayin Singers open Point of No Return with stacks of vocalese recalling Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. The band handled the arrangements themselves, and Alviar says he’s much happier with the recording on this sophomore effort: "We had more control."
Lyrics throughout mainly deal with two topics: fear and salvation. Point of No Return and Broken Promises talk of the "icy fingers (that) wrap around your throat" and the "whispers in the dark." The music appropriately features descending metal riffs, and this seems only slightly like self-parody. Other lyrics suggest the anxiety of living in the city, which could reflect Turner’s recent stint in LA (or not).
Over Me seems like an obvious choice for the next single: a well-crafted tune with a memorable chorus, the Christian message is neatly embedded in the hook, while the playing (including Turner’s solo) stands out.
Secrets opens with an acoustic instrumental which demonstrates that Turner can play acoustic guitar runs. Bassist Cornelio plays the guitar solo on the anthemic Learning Curve.The final tune, Outlast, brings the song cycle full circle back to salvation, as you would expect from a band with an openly Christian message. Having only listened to a few cuts from Battery’s first release, I can’t really compare their second effort. Let’s just say it stands on its own, a seed cast into the soil, looking for receptive ears to let it grow.
(To inquire about Battery’s Divine Intervention, visit batman @pinoy musika.com or battery-web-subscribe@ yahoogroups.com.)