EP Review: The Battery Farm: Endless Unstoppable Pain

Manchester’s The Battery Farm formed out of the ashes of The Madding Crowd, The Corry brothers, Ben and Dominic, were at the heart of the band, but beset by constantly shifting line ups and maybe a sense that the direction the band was heading in didn’t feel quite right, they swiftly re-emerged as The Battery Farm, a decision that saw them unleash a very different soundtrack into an unsuspecting world. Whilst elements of The Madding Crowd‘s DNA are still present, the beast that rose from the remains was a very different one, a cathartic primal howl that rages against the injustice and inequality in the world, something that is amplified in their live performances. Just as they were building up a head of steam 2020 arrived and brought things to a grinding halt, so The Battery Farm have been locked in with the rest of us, slowly fermenting and distilling their rage and they are now set to unleashed their debut EP, “Endless Unstoppable Pain“, on the 27th November.

Given the idiosyncratic nature of The Battery Farm I’d have been surprised if this was an even remotely predictable EP, and I’m not disappointed on this front. “Endless Unstoppable Pain” kicks off with the first single from the EP, ‘Maggot Line‘, that hits you with a riff that comes across like a demented hybrid of Motörhead and Ramones, which is never a bad thing in my book, and is topped off which an infectious line that celebrates the end of the world, this is followed by the EP’s second single, the thundering dark satire of ‘Excellent Public Speaker‘. After the twin pronged attack of the singles we’re into unknown territory, ‘A Little Nothing Man‘ brings some dark post punk into the fold along with a disturbing undercurrent that ebbs and flows, finally “While The Black Smoke Rises” completes the EP with a track that comes closest to the intense experience that is The Battery Farm live.

With their debut EP The Battery Farm have surpassed any expectations you, or anyone else, may have had, this is not your run of the mill punk rock, this is a dark, disturbing and confrontational EP that is the fucked up soundtrack that 2020 deserves. Lyrically “Endless Unstoppable Pain” holds a mirror up to society and what you see staring back at you is a visceral, vicious and raw reflection of the modern world, sonically The Battery Farm embrace the most unsettling elements of post punk, noise rock, hardcore and punk rock to create their own self styled ‘doom punk’ soundtrack for a year that has frequently felt like the end of days.

“Endless Unstoppable Pain” can be pre-ordered on CD, digital and vinyl formats via Bandcamp here