Album Review: Battalions – Pure Humber Sludge (APF Records)

2020 marks Hullensian sludge titans Battalions 10th anniversary. To celebrate, APF Records is reissuing their long-out-of-print albums Nothing To Lose (2016) and genre classic Moonburn (2017) on one deluxe remastered CD and digital under the title Pure Humber Sludge. It will be released on July 17th 2020.

Oof, there’s some serious bang for your buck with Pure Humber Sludge, combining two albums into one huge, heavy and sludgy beast. 15 tracks of Battalions battering away, a precursor to what they would achieve with 2018’s Forever Marching Backwards.

Not that many of the tracks here sound a million miles away from what we would get later. No, Battalions have always been a heavyweight of the British Sludge scene and this combined release just confirms what many knew early on.

Try and fight the urge to head-bang; the likes of You Have Nothing to Lose But, Bog Faced Boy, Shitstorm Troopers and God’s Cuntry won’t take no for an answer. Just 4 tracks off an album filled with thick and greasy riffs, massive groove-infused hooks, belly-trembling bass and tectonic drums.

While we await album number 4, it’s great to hear Battalions reminding everyone just why they are such a murky and sticky star of the scene.

Battalions – Pure Humber Sludge Full Track Listing:

1. A Coward’s Manifesto
2. Hoods Up, Knives Out
3. You Have Nothing to Lose But
4. Whisky & Wine
5. Blood Red
6. Bog Faced Roy
7. Deadbeat Dad Beat Dead
8. Shitstorm Troopers
9. Skinjob
10. Lotion Basket
11. Moonburn
12. God’s Cuntry
13. Betrayal/Delusion
14. Amazonian Woman
15. Another Meaning for Death

 

 

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