March Into Battle: Battlefields Find Peace in Europe

In the early 90s, a little-known band from Fargo called godheadSilo attracted national attention and signed to the indie label, Sub Pop Records. They went on to influence dozens of noise rock bands throughout the years but were never given the credit they truly deserved from local media.

For those acquainted with Battlefields, this story may sound familiar. After releasing their first full-length album on the indie label, Translation Loss Records, Battlefields has hit the national scene and are leaving quite the impression. Described by Decibel magazine as “headed in an impressive direction,” Battlefields has emerged as one of the most brilliant metal forces in the Upper Midwest.

As they prepare for upcoming tours in the U.S. and Europe, Rusty Steele and Andrew Wallin were gracious enough to talk to HPR to answer a few questions about the upcoming tours and the new album.

HPR: For our readers who aren’t familiar with Battlefields, can you describe your sound and give us a little background information?

Andrew Wallin: We play downtuned progressive metal with ambient atmospherics. Vocals are screamed and or growled. Melodies are primarily carried in the guitar lines or samples. Songs are arranged in movements rather than standard verse/chorus/verse format.

HPR: What band/artist would you cite as being your single biggest influence and why?

Andrew: Justin Broadrick has influenced me not only as a guitarist/vocalist but also as a songwriter and sonic experimentalist. He was a founding member of Napalm Death as well as Godflesh, God, and Ice. Currently his main focus is Jesu but his side projects also deserve attention. Final, Techno Animal, The Sidewinder, Curse of the Golden Vampire, and Zonal are just a small sample of his prolific back catalogue. Anyone interested in depressive guitar dischordence and bleak sonic landscapes should check out any of these projects.

Rusty Steele: This gets to be a touchy subject, as we have undoubtedly been pigeonholed into one of those Neurosis and Isis influenced bands, and is a little bit the case in a comparison to longer drawn out songs that try to take you places and always evolving into another movement, but I would say as a whole we draw more influence from our daily lives, geographical location, what we are reading about and a wider span of music than just those two bands. In that same idea, we could say that we are just as influenced by Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Godflesh, Phillip Glass, Godspeed You! Black Emperor or Katatonia. Battlefields is definitely a collective effort, which doesn’t have a singular influence that shaped the sound of the band.

HPR: Your latest album, “Thresholds of Imbalance,” has received a great deal of national attention. In addition to being a featured album at Electric Fetus stores (among others), it also received kind words from Decibel magazine. How has the national exposure changed you as a band?

Rusty: The national exposure in printed press often makes us blush a little, but it surely doesn’t mean anything when it comes down to it. We have had interviews, features and reviews in metal magazines such as; Terrorizer, Decibel, Hails & Horns, Metal Maniacs and a bunch of online sites like Lambgoat.com, ThePrp and Punknews.org, however, on the greater scale of things, it still matters what effort we are putting into the band. If we are lazy as a band and not pushing ourselves, then we can not expect anyone else to care about our band, regardless of that attention. I would say that it has changed us in a way that if you are in the metal scene in N. American or Europe you have probably at least heard the band name mentioned, which makes it easier for us to tour and meet new people, rather than the inevitable struggle indie bands face. We are still a little shy about people telling us they bought our new album at Best Buy or Hot Topic and would encourage people to come see us live, because live performances is where we are at our strongest.

HPR: What role did your label, Translation Loss Records, play in the promotion and distribution of “Thresholds of Imbalance”?

Rusty: While Init Records was completely great to us, it was time to take the stepping stone to the next level and becoming apart of the Translation Loss Records family is the direction we wanted to take. The label has done a number of great things for us, including world-wide distribution, press, financial help, helped with the artwork of our album from Paul Romano (workhardened.com), and put us in the hands of Dave Bremmer of EarsplitPR (earsplitcompound.com), who does work for many great artist from Wolves in the Throne Room, Pelican, Burzum, Abigail Williams and so many more awesome bands.

HPR: Rarely can a band from F/M say they’ve toured Europe-but you can. How was that experience?

Rusty: What other bands say about Europe is exactly true! The people at our shows are more plentiful and concerned with what we have to offer as a band. Some of the worst experiences in Europe were comparable to some of the most average things that happen in the States. Every European show upon arrival we had deli snacks, soda, beers and later a main course meal. There were shows that we arrived at the kids were waiting in the streets outside to meet us and carry our equipment. People in Europe go to shows because they still have that deep passion for discovering new bands. They show they care, their full attention is given to the band performing and greatly appreciated. Another positive thing about touring Europe is that we don’t have to take the risk of losing our asses, because the people of Europe take care of their bands and are known for it. The experience of touring out of our country is very rewarding.

HPR: Based on your experience, what’s the biggest difference between American and European metal fans?

Rusty: The American metal scene is far more spoiled and laced with pretentiousness. We were able to see this on a greater scale when we toured the U.S. with European metal bands Amen Ra and Overmars, where in Europe they do respectable tours and then come here and no one gives a shit about them, but when we go there it is the polar opposite.

HPR: You leave on an American tour early January, followed by another European tour. Are you looking forward to getting back on the road?

Rusty: We are always excited to be on the road, although the past few months off have been greatly deserved by all of us. I think we are more excited to be out on the road with a bunch of friends and meeting up with our old friends along the way.

HPR: Who will you be touring with?

Rusty: Jan 13th we will be leaving to the Eastern Coast to be a part of the Translation Loss Records Tour, which consists of Rosetta, Battlefields and City of Ships. We will come home for a short while and gear up again to go out with our close friends Junius in March to do some touring in the Midwestern and Southern states around the 2010 SXSW Music Festival in Austin, TX, which we have been invited to play for the third year in a row now. We have recently joined up with Manus Booking Agent in Germany and will be on tour once again in the U.K. and mainland Europe April 22nd – May 16th with the band Manatees.

HPR: You’re currently writing material for your next album. How is that progressing?

Andrew: Our writing process is long so we have a ways to go to finish some of the new material. Some songs are over a year old already and still aren’t done! We’ve got some good skeletal structures mapped out for the new material that we are all pretty excited about. A couple of the songs are close to the writing stage where we start adding layers of samples and guitar harmonies and really tweak or fine tune the arrangements.

Rusty: While the guys have been focusing on the writing direction of the new album, I have been reading and taking notes. The concept of the next record will still be archaic in subject matter, but relate more to the late great Lake Agassiz, whose waters that broke stopped gulf streams and rose global waters. The story coincides with much of the ancient world’s accounts of the last great global flood just out of the last ice age. This may not develop as an entire concept for the album once the writing is complete, but it will surely be involved within the lyrical content.

HPR: How will your next album differ from previous releases?

Andrew: A lot of the spacial ambience is being stripped away so the songs will be more raw and driving with a relentless heaviness to them. There will be parts that let up and breathe but I think the songs will be shorter and more to the point. One main difference will be that there is really no underlying concept to the music this time. We’re just letting songs write themselves and trying to be more organic in that process. There’s also some really fat grooves in a couple of songs that might surprise people who are familiar with our sound.

HPR: When can we expect to see a new Battlefields album?

Rusty: We have yet to figure this out ourselves! We will keep you posted.

HPR: When is your next show in Fargo?

Rusty: Our next show in Fargo will be Saturday February 6th at The Aquarium. The show will be one of the only shows Battlefields will be playing in Fargo for the first half of the year, or at least until we have a substantial new set of songs to bring to the table. It has been our goal to perform a new song by this date, but that is yet to be a sure thing. However, we will be playing some of our older material of “Stained with the Blood of an Empire.” Sleeping in Gethsemane and The Suit will also be playing that night with us.

Battlefields is: Rusty Steele, vocals and electronics; Andrew Wallin, guitars and vocals; Rob Schmidt, drums; Matt Ricigliano, guitars; Casey Loren, bass; Ryan Cofer, bass.

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If You Go

What: Battlefields, Sleeping in Gethsemane, The Suit
Where: The Aquarium
When: Sat, Feb 6, 10 pm
How much: $5, 21+ID