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Bleak atmosphere and heavy, doom filled guitars fill the air with feelings of desolation and despair, leaving you cold and weary after the full hour long listening experience that is Thresholds of Imbalance. Hailing from the cold and somewhat barren plains of Minnesota and North Dakota, Battlefields incorporate their surroundings into a musical fold that is heavy, monolithic and completely disheartening.

While the album, for the most part, is slow moving, plodding along at the pace of decay, there are moments of brighter tones brought in by melodic guitars and rhythms. And yet, the overall tone of the album is still depressive and distant. The guitars throughout the Thresholds of Imbalance teeter on the verge of sludginess, often thick and suffocating with a good deal of texture. The rhythms vary from mid-paced distant thunder to that of a tortoise, plodding along — steady and undeterred in their delivery. The dual vocal deliveries range from mid-range screams, deep guttural growls and shouts, mixing with the music wonderfully.

For all the bleakness within this album the band isn’t simply rehashing the same grim riffs and atmospheres over and over. There’s an intelligence to the song writing with their debut album that is not only refreshing, but give the band a solid footing to surpass their contemporaries.

Disacknowledge
“Disacknowledge” starts off the album with 11 and a half minutes of distant atmospherics and crushing riffs. The song fades in slowly over the first minute and 30 seconds with some light noise and soft guitar and bass. The first few riffs are slow and monolithic in their delivery and tone while calculated drums work to accentuate the overall feel of the song. More like a funeral dirge than anything else, “Disacknowledge” plods along, feet dragging and head down. The vocals are layered nicely and work well with one another, building on the thick guitars. Even the groove is slower than all get out, you still can’t help but get caught up in the groove. I’m digging the guitar and vocal combination at 6:30. It’s pretty dark and evil.

Stasis
After that opening epic of a song, “Stasis” short two minute length seems like a drop in the bucket. This instrumental has a dark, bluesy rock vibe to it that I would expect in some seedy bar filled with cigarette smoke, yet the progressive undertones the song contains keeps it from descending that far. This is a nice interlude before the next song.

Blueprint
“Blueprint” starts off slowly with light drumming and building guitars over the first 25 seconds before higher end screams come in and the pace is picked up a good deal. The guitars are fairly sludgy and thick as the rhythm pushes along at a steady clip. There’s a lot going on within this song’s ten minute confines — more than the casual listener may care to wait around for. But for those of you fully invested in the album, “Blueprint” is an epic slab of desolate guitars, rich textures and distant ambiance.

Approaching
It’s hard to imagine how Battlefields planned on following up that last song, but “Approaching” tries its damnedest. The song starts out with distant ambient noise and spoken vocals for its entire two minute length. It’s an odd track, but serves to break up the overall feel a bit with some electronic noise and subtle vocals.

The Thresholds
Battlefields isn’t the first band to split their album title into two separate songs, but they certainly have done a masterful job incorporating the two tracks into one massively awesome series of ups and downs. “The Thresholds” is the first half of the epic tale weighing in at over eleven minutes in length. Distant guitars and ambient atmospherics get the song underway, lasting till the 3:20 mark as thicker guitars come in with steady drum work. The vocals don’t come in until just before 5:30 and they are raw, gruff shouts, layered upon each other. I love the rock fueled guitars and animalistic drums just after the seven minute mark.

Of Imbalance
After the first half fades, “Of Imbalance” ultimately builds itself up to a bit of a frenzy after the two minute mark. Thick guitars and heavy drums come in with the higher end vocals as melancholic guitars work their way through the thunder. The just over three and a half minute track is heavy, dark and formidable with sludgy guitars and thick rhythms.

Quake and Flood
“Quake and Flood” starts off with wavering atmospherics as active drums echo in the distance. The 1:20 mark sees the drums and textured guitars come forward with the dual vocal attack. This one is a bit more upbeat and aggressive with steady drum work and thick tones. The pace slows tremendously after the four minute mark to just a crawl, carrying itself like the final steps of a funeral march. It’s a cold, desolate ending to an otherwise beefy song.

Nibiru
“Nibiru” fades in smoothly using the final notes of “Quake and Flood” as its starting point. The guitars have plenty of distortion to them as the chug along with the steady drum work. This sub two minute instrumental is dark and bruising.

Majestic
The final track on Thresholds of Imbalance doesn’t waste any time getting down to business as the dual vocal attack get the track started with some renewed aggression and energy. The initial guitar work is heavy and burly while the drums thunder along smoothly. All gets quiet at the two minute mark as the band builds back up with soothing, yet mournful guitars. When the vocals come back in just before 3:00 there’s a decidedly different feel to the song — it’s more upbeat and catchy with a bit of a 70’s vibe. “Majestic” is a strong finish to a stellar album.

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Favorite Tracks:
All of them

Additional Notes:
N/A