BATPISS ‘Biomass’ Album Review.

Words Justin Tawil.

Batpiss are arguably one of the most consistent bands in both performance, and how they sound on record. The bands first full length Nuclear Winter never aged or sounded stale regardless of the absurd amount of times I listened to it, and first impressions of the new album makes me think I’m going to have a similar experience with this one.

There are some slightly different flavours thrown into Biomass, however that tried and true unrelenting, powerful grungy sound that Batpiss are known for rings on throughout the album. That said, the slow grooves of Heavy Smoke followed by the massive doom sounds on Pulling Out provides a drastic change of pace to the album, shining a light on their darker sound.

There really isn’t a bad track on the album, from start to finish Biomass rips like a motherfucker, but to point out some stellar songs in particular, Daredevil, The Store and Pulling Out really make this album. Daredevil being a faster, aggressive riff-fest broken up only by a hypnotic bridge, drenched in hazy fuzzed out guitar bends and dissonant banshee-like bursts of sound. The juxtaposition of the two distinct sections breaks up the track perfectly, making for a killer song.

The Store is interesting in a few different ways, but the way the main rhythm subtly changes and reverts back with a lot of different things going on guitar wise over the top of it is super interesting. It makes good use of varying moods, and one of the coolest parts of the song is when the guitar drops out, sneaks its way back in, then the bass and drums drop out for some solo riffing to build up back into that killer groove featured at the start, just with a whole lot more power behind it.

Pulling Out as I said earlier on, is focussed on a doomy vibe, opening up with a slow droning bass that layers on step-by-step the drums and an almost foreboding guitar line. When the dark, brooding vocals come in, the tone is set for the next two minutes. As the song starts to kick in, the eerie vibe has some weight thrown behind it as the song unleashes itself into some truly frantic passages. Definitely one for the sludge and doom fans.

Biomass as a whole is an album that doesn’t try to fix what wasn’t broken, it throws their fierce garage punk sound in your face again and again, and it works. If for whatever reason you didn’t like their debut full length then maybe this isn’t for you, however I’ve never come across someone that fits that description.

Batpiss’ ‘Biomass’ is out June 26 through Poison City Records and is available for pre-order HERE NOW.

Batpiss: Facebook // Bandcamp.
Poison City Records: Site // Facebook // Instagram // Twitter // Bandcamp // Soundcloud // Youtube // Vimeo.

Batpiss ‘Biomass’ Album Launch Tour dates:
Thu July 2 – The Phoenix, Canberra (HY-TEST, MEAT CAKE)
Fri July 3 – Rad Bar, Wollongong (HY-TEST, MEAT CAKE)
Sat July 4 – Hamilton Hotel, Newcastle (BRUCE!, MEAT CAKE)
Sun July 5 – Frankies Pizza, Sydney (BRUCE!, MEAT CAKE)
Fri July 10 – Crowbar, Brisbane (HITS, APE FARM)
Sat July 11 – Tym Guitars, Brisbane
Fri July 17 – Howler, Melbourne (DEAF WISH, DEEP HEAT, THE ELECTRIC GUITARS)
Fri July 24 – Club 54, Launceston (TBA)
Sat July 25 – Brisbane Hotel, Hobart (TBA)
Fri July 31 – Barwon Club, Geelong (TBA)
Sat August 1 – The Eastern, Ballarat (TBA)
Fri August 14th – The Exeter, Adelaide (TBA)
Sat August 15th – Crown and Sceptor, Adelaide (TBA)

You can buy tickets from Moshtix HERE:

Check out the new Batpiss clip for The Store: