The Mini Tour

May 02, 2010  /  Batillus

When I know I have to get up in three hours, I find it difficult to sleep at all, no matter how tired I am. I'm so worried about sleeping through my alarm and getting on the road late (and potentially missing the next show) that I just wind up lying there in a half-sleep waiting for the fast-approaching moment where I'll have to drag my ass out of bed, slam a gallon of coffee, and get on the highway. That's what happened to us last night: we returned to our local housing site after a show at some townie dive called JR's Bar in south south Philly around 2am, then woke up at 5am in order to get on the road by 6am to make our load-in time in Indianapolis tonight.

In spite of the fact that JR's isn't set up to host live music-- much less loud live music-- and the fact that during our last song the Ampeg SVT head belonging to Chris from Riff Cannon through which Willi was playing toppled off the speaker cabinet and onto the floor, the show was decent. We played well, and Riff Cannon played spectacularly. I'm bummed we barely got to hang out with those guys, though. Since they never made it to New York for Thursday's show due to van troubles and since we had to get to sleep immediately following last night's show due to our aforementioned 6am van call time, we hardly had a chance to hang with them. It's soul-crushing just imagining all the fun we would have, should have, could have had.

On the bright side, we have the best hosts a band can possibly ask for when we go to Philadelphia. Jeff and Nadine go far above and beyond all others to make us comfortable and happy. Where to begin? They had a parking space saved for us upon our arrival yesterday afternoon. They had lunch ready and waiting for us as well: grilled burgers and hot dogs of both vegetarian and dead animal soul varieties. They have a fully-stocked bar which they were all to willing to share with us. They had a room for each of us when we returned after the show (they practically live in a mansion-- four story early 19th century townhouse) and each of our rooms came with a bed and a fresh towel. When we woke up this morning, they had bagels with cream cheese and fresh coffee ready (including to-go cups). And, to top it all off, they sent us off with a bag full of sandwiches (spicy chicken, grilled chipotle tofu, and, my personal favorite, brie and apple with walnuts) and bottled water. It's people like Jeff and Nadine that make getting paid thirty six bucks to play places like JR's Bar for twenty people (approximately two of which appreciated what we were doing) tolerable.

As I write, we're on the Pennsylvania Turnpike en route to Indianapolis for what's practically a matinee (6pm doors, 7pm show) at some new 'DIY' venue called The Dojo with Coffinworm and Velnias. Hopefully it will be worth the 5am wake up call. I think it will.

And then tomorrow, we're off to Chicago to start recording. We're chomping at the bit to get started and I have no doubt that we'll end up with the (insert cliche superlative here) album of 2010. I'll post another update or two as the record begins to emerge, unless something interesting happens, in which case I'll probably post more. Does anyone know how we get a burger named for us at Kuma's Corner?

- geoff / batillus

categories / musings

Massive Update (full-length, split 12", fall tour with Kowloon Walled City, etc.)

March 25, 2010  /  Batillus

Hello everyone, It's been a long time since our last real update. Much has happened, much is happening, and much will happen in the very near future... This is a long one, so bear with us.

First, we have a couple shows upcoming with our good friends Riff Cannon. Details are on our page. We're still looking for a show in Cleveland on Saturday, May 1st to round out that weekend as we make our way to Chicago. If you can help out please get in touch. Why are we going to Chicago, you ask? We're recording our debut full-length in May at Volume Studios with the much-lauded Sanford Parker (Yob, Rwake, Unearthly Trance, Nachtmystium, Pelican). We have seven songs written clocking in at nearly an hour, of which we expect probably five to make it to the final LP. After doing a pair of EPs on an extremely limited budget and a tight schedule, we're very much looking forward to taking our time this go-around and coming out of the studio with something that really represents us as a band; something that we can really be proud of. More details on the full-length will be announced in time.

Next, we are excited to announce that we have a split 12" coming out this summer via the Berlin-based Vendetta Records. The split is with Maine's Hallowed Butchery (aka Ryan Scott Fairfield) and our side will contain three tracks previously only available on the extremely-limited (as in 75) 'Beard Destroyer Tour EP,' which is now sold out. The cover image is by Scott Irvine and the rest of the artwork and layout will be done by Fairfield.

We're currently booking a tour at the end of September with our good friends Kowloon Walled City. The tentative routing is below; we just started working on this, so if you want to help out with any of these shows please get in touch. And if you don't know Kowloon Walled City, check them out because they will melt your face off.

Kowloon Walled City / Batillus - Fall Tour 2010:

Sat 9/18 New York
Sun 9/19 Boston
Mon 9/20 Providence
Tue 9/21 Baltimore
Wed 9/22 DC
Thu 9/23 Knoxville
Fri 9/24 Atlanta
Sat 9/25 New Orleans
Sun 9/26 Baton Rouge
Mon 9/27 Birmingham
Tue 9/28 Nashville
Wed 9/29 Asheville
Thu 9/30 Richmond
Fri 10/1 Philadelphia
Sat 10/2 Brooklyn

One of our good friends, Will Benoit of Constants and Radar Recordings, has an interesting project in the works. Will is planning to build a solar-powered, eco-friendly recording studio in a barn adjacent to his New England home. Please check out this page for a video and more information.

Lastly, in case you're wondering why things have been rather quiet on the Batillus front lately, it's for good reason... Fade has been touring quite a bit with the legendary Jarboe, alongside Erik Wunder of Cobalt, Nick Palmirotto of Hull, and Josh Lozano of Fade's other band, Inswarm. They'll be in Europe from March 31 to April 16th, so if you live across the pond from us check the dates on Jarboe's page.

Additionally, Geoff has been busy touring with A Storm of Light (Josh Graham of Neurosis and Blood and Time, and formerly of Red Sparowes and Battle of Mice; and Domenic Seita formerly of Tombs).

That's all for now, stay tuned for more.

-batillus (one T and two L's; pronounced 'buh-TILL-us')

categories / records, touring

Progress, New England Minitour, New Song, Etc.

May 28, 2009  /  Batillus

Hello everyone, Batillus is now a four-piece -- Fade Kainer of Inswarm (and Jarboe's touring band) is now on board, handling vox/synths/samples. His talents have completed our sound, and we've written lots of new material to give your eardrums the beating they deserve.

Check out a clip of our first show as a four-piece:

At the end of June, we will be playing three very special shows with our good friends in Riff Cannon and Elder:

June 26 @ 101 Hooker Street - Allston, MA | 9pm | $FREE | ALL AGES 1st Elder; 2nd Batillus; 3rd Riff Cannon

June 27 @ Sweatshop - Providence, RI | details TBA * 1st Riff Cannon; 2nd Elder; 3rd Batillus

June 28 @ Bar - New Haven, CT | 8pm | $FREE | 21+ 1st Batillus; 2nd Riff Cannon; 3rd Elder

* NOTE: we will revert to our original instrumental trio lineup for the show in Providence only-- expect extra-heavy-riffing, including our exploration in minimalism, "Tunguska" and some other very special surprises. You can download "Tunguska" here:

categories / records, touring

‘Batillus’ EP Reviewed on StonerRock.com

March 24, 2009  /  Batillus

"The headline on the band's MySpace page simply reads 'Tone' and that one word really underscores what's going on with Brooklyn's Batillus. This instrumental three-piece understands that riffs go a long way, but having a killer tone pushes them even further." Read the entire review here. Thanks John!

categories / reviews

‘Batillus’ EP Reviewed on Metal Underground

March 09, 2009  /  Batillus

"Doom bands often get described as huge lumbering battering rams, methodically smashing into their listeners over long periods of time. The problem with battering rams is that they’re one trick wonders. They only do one thing, so even if they do it well, they can get old fast. A three piece doom band from New York decided to pass over the battering ram stage and go for something on a grander scale. Taking the name Batillus, a class of massive super tankers, they mimic their namesake well." Read the entire review here. Thanks Ty!

categories / reviews

‘Batillus’ EP reviewed on Deaf Sparrow

February 10, 2009  /  Batillus

"Doom is about nuances in a black hole. Doom is about distortion and about what you put on top of it. Doom is about slowly transcending… "Batillus knows this very well. And that is why the three tunes included in this their introductory EP do not fall into what is traditionally called doom metal. To start with, there is a big dose psychedelia here, and sure Black Sabbath were trippy in their very own way, but for the most part what was known as doom throughout most of the 90’s stirred clear of mind altering sounds. The marriage is perfect. There is something utterly deranged about being outta your mind on drugs and there is also something deranged about spending half an hour bobbling your head to something as slow and rumbling as Batillus. It is both, hedonistic and masochistic." - Hansel Merchor

Read the entire review here. Thanks Hansel!

categories / reviews

‘Batillus’ EP reviewed on Invisible Oranges

January 19, 2009  /  Batillus

"New York's Batillus tune down to a relatively civilized B. But unlike many other bands that do so, they're not just sitting on open notes. The guitars are all over the place, which is uncommon for their doom milieu. While the band is duly slow and low (the three songs on this EP each top 10 minutes in length), it traverses diverse terrain: trippy Sabbath-isms, mutated Helmet riffs, even black metal tremolo picking. It's an excitingly open system. There are lots of riffs - if you dislike one, one you like will likely arrive minutes later. Songs morph between riffs with surprising mobility, given the lumbering framework." - Cosmo Lee Read the entire review here. Thanks Cosmo!

categories / reviews

Digital EP Out Now, Show Announced With Ocean, Salome, Riff Cannon

January 15, 2009  /  Batillus

Hello friends... We have a few important things to reveal to you all today. First off, our debut EP, entitled, simply, BATILLUS, is available right now for free at the following location:

http://batillusdoom.com/batillus_ep.html

Yes, it's available NOW and yes, it's 100% FREE. The digital EP consists of three high-quality 320k MP3s totaling more than 30 minutes of music, as well as a high-resolution digital copy of the EP's front and back cover art (shown below), courtesy of lungful design. The EP was recorded, mixed, and mastered by AJ Peters (Disappearer, Riff Cannon) at Black Box Studio in Hansen, MA.

The BATILLUS EP will be available in CD format soon as well. Details are still murky, but it will most likely be an extremely limited run of hand-numbered, hand assembled CD-Rs.

In other news, we've confirmed a show with Portland, Maine's OCEAN, Virginia doom trio SALOME (feat. mem. AGORAPHOBIC NOSEBLEED), and Boston riff rockers RIFF CANNON right here in Brooklyn at Public Assembly (formerly Galapagos) on February 15th. The show is the third in Pitchfork's 'Show No Mercy'series; the first two installments featured NACHTMYSTIUM and SKELETONWITCH, respectively. Details for that show can be found at the following link:

http://www.publicassemblynyc.com/events/view/540

A quick update on merch: we still have a few 'Tunguska' T-Shirts left (medium and large), details here:

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=326496054&blogID=416273280

We're looking for some new shirt designs, if anyone wants to help out please feel free to get in touch!

Finally, we have a handful of posters remaining from our recent showwith Rosetta, Junius, and Tombs. The posters (click here to see) were designed by Seldon Hunt(Isis, Red Sparowes) and were hand-cut, hand-screened, and limited to45 hand-numbered copies. You can snag one for ten bucks, shipping included, by emailing batillus [@] batillusdoom [dot] com.

categories / records, touring

Revolver Show Review

December 20, 2008  /  Batillus

Chris Krovatin over at RevolverMag.com was kind enough to offer a few words on our recent show with Gates of Slumber: Following [L.A. Cross] is Batillus, another Brooklyn outfit, who get the crowd on their feet and headbanging intensely with their über-slow, beyond-atmospheric instrumental blackened doom. Batillus' rumbling bass tones and the unhinged skin-beating officially transform the night from a gathering of leather-clad beard enthusiasts to a Metal Show.

categories / reviews