Search - Battery :: Nv

Hard industrial meets....Enya?

Azurestrangelove | Upstate NY, USA | 05/19/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"There's no greater pleasure than buying large lots of various unknown electronic/industrial/synthpop bands on Ebay for dirt cheap. So far, Battery has faired the best of all the other endevours that I have heard.This is undoubtably industrial. A lot harder than what I'm accustomed to listening to( synthpop ), although certainly not hardcore industrial either( Wumpscut, Skinny puppy, In strict confidence )."nv" is chock full of industrial goodies that certainly cover the wide range of styles and harshness'. It's so surprising to see just how much the sound of the song effects how the lyrics are felt. I happen to be quite fond of dark lyrics but the prophecy of doom spoken at the beginning of "Deluge" sends chills down my spine. A standout track indeed. Maria A's voice is ethereal sounding and quite reminiscent of Enya and Sarah Mcglachlan and I only wish she stuck with that soft angellic tone for the entire album rather than practically scream in the almost unlistenable "Pax neurotica" and "Manipulator" or let the other( male )band members take over all the vocals on some of the songs which basically sound like lesser quality knock-offs of other Industrial bands. It is Maria's voice that carries this album and makes it stand out. Her rendition of Depeche Mode's classic, "Shame" is awesome and I'm almost tempted to say that I like it better than the original. Other great songs are the moody, ambient "Dollhouse", A very Enya-sounding "Nevermore","Envious"; which reminds me of 'Project Pitchfork' and 'Cake', and "Electric motor burn". after track 13, everything else is just a mix of ambient instrumentals with the occasional demonic/distorted voice mixed in. Synthpop fans like me will probably need time to adjust to the harsher industrial sound while hardcore industrial fans might find the angellic female vocals and the music too slow and softened. So, this would be ideal for those who like music in between both genres; mellow industrial or aggressive synth. ( Project Pitchfork, Apoptygma Berzerk, Switchblade Symphony, Evanescence ) but fans from both sides of the spectrum will at least find some tracks they like. There's a lot of filler toward the end and some of the tracks were just too aggressive for my taste, but I still consider this cd to be a gem of a find and I am curious to see what the other Battery albums sound like."