Review by JD on November 25, 2012.

The UK is one of the major places in metal history. Many of todays acts can trace themselves and their music to Britain and their huge roll in making and shaping metal what it is today. A new crop of metallers are now coming out of the UK, to carve out their own sort of path in the ever growing scene we all know and love.

Obzidian plays an exciting hybrid of intricate Progressive Thrash, savage and very sadistic Death Metal that has added in a whole lot of melodies that come straight from all of the NWOBHM. All that is bound together with the bands passion for the music. What comes out is a metallic tour-de-force that the UK needs to be aware of and embrace.

With only one short song on the whole album, seems like Obzidian is wanting to give you your monies worth. I love almost every last track that was on this CD, but it was the sixteen minute plus song 'Blood Soaked Tears' that is the one that surprised me - as it never got boring or tedious and evoked many emotions that were accented by massive amounts of headbanging as well. It is class all the way through, each harmonies blended into one solid song.

Obzidian has been broken up and reunited a few times over the years, and that seem to just fuel them to bigger and better stuff when they came back together. They are now a solid line up and are ready to march across the globe to bring their brand of metal to the Banger Nation of the world.

Every metal fanatic should rejoice, as Obzidian now are offering up such a tasty bloodfeast of music.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9
Atmosphere: 9.5
Production: 8
Originality: 8.5
Overall: 8.5

Rating: 8.7 out of 10

Review by JD on October 25, 2008.

If I had to describe this Belgian Speed/Death outfit with some sort of a catch phrase or something to bring across what Battalion is all about... I have to go with ‘War Metal’. It makes you salute them, while they are strangling you with their raging tide of pure and unabashed sonic weaponry.

This intense four piece band delivers to you a slab of metal that harkens back to the late 80's and early 90's of Death/ Thrash metal. Brutal and uncompromising as all hell, Battalion pushes the music to the limits, without becoming cartoonish in the process. Intelligent lyrics about the wages of war, and bringing out their own views on all of it... make you pounder things like this a little harder, while their slashing music pummels you ears.

The album opens up with the tale of world war two battles with ‘Mechanize Blitzkrieg’ ed and then blast through ten more songs that cover everything from the Japanese taking over parts of China in WWII (‘Ten Thousand Corpse Ditch’) to the bloody drug wars waged by street gangs in all major cities in the world (‘Curb Stomp’). They do not scrimp on the truth, or on what has been overlooked as lessons locked in the annals of history.

Battalion are astute and they seriously give you the facts with both barrels squarely in the face... and the production used here just adds to the power and strength that intelligence always play when you are serious. In short, this is a record that just not feeds the raging need for our in your face music, but also reminds us that collectively we are not anywhere close to being as stupid as non-metalheads really think we are.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 9
Production: 8
Originality: 8
Overall: 9


Rating: 8.2 out of 10