Batavia is, as far as I can tell, the debut EP of the band with the same name. There are a couple of released singles but they contain the same songs that’s also included on this EP. Of course, there are more songs here (duh!).
I like the overall sound. It’s thrash with heavy guitars, not super fast which I think is a good thing. It gives the guitars a chance to breathe and develop on their own. If I should nitpick the sound I would say that it might be a little too dark for my taste. There’s a little too much bass sometimes. But I, on the other hand, am very sensitive to too much bass. It’s no big deal really!
I like the production and I like the riffing a lot. But also here I would nitpick and point out that the vocals kinda sounds like it has been recorded in a garage. There’s something about that metallic reverb that doesn’t seem really natural to me. But on the other hand, it might be the sound the band was going for.
I think that I could get into this band if the melodies were a bit more catchy. The riffs are there and the sound is there. It just needs something more to really break through. Come to think of it, the riffing is really superb!
Apart from the four songs there is also a cover of Metallica’s Creeping Death. It sounds like the tempo is just a tad slower than the original but it’s a very nice version! And that kind of cements the theory that Metallica has been a major inspiration source for the band. Batavia actually has bass on their song though, even on Creeping Death.
