DISTURBED: But civil. |
| The Battle Within | Released by Civil Disturbance | with Twisted Roots + Eldemur Krimm + Bloody Marble Collective | at the Station, in Portland | Feb 29 |
Though some of us in Southern Maine might not have noticed, Dead Season’s reign as WTOS Battle of the Bands champion came to an end in 2007 with the emergence of Civil Disturbance, a heavy rock (okay, metal) band that are creating a heavy buzz in central and northern Maine, selling more discs in the state right now than anyone but Rustic Overtones.What’s that you say? Never heard of them?
Well, it’s possible you’re living in a closet or something, certainly, but there does seem to be an us-against-them vibe going on with the Portland music scene and just about everywhere else. And I’m as guilty as anyone. While I often write about bands putting on CD release shows at the Big Easy, SPACE, Empire, Geno’s, etc., it’s pretty rare that I take note of a release show at Rumors in Skowhegan, or the Kave in Bucksport, or the White Birches in Ellsworth, or the Mirage in Old Orchard Beach. We are the Portland Phoenix, after all. And it’s also true that Skowhegan is about as close to Portland as Boston is. But let’s be honest: Us Mainers stick together. When people get poisoned in New Sweden, we care. Even if New Sweden is about as close as New York City.
And when a talented band like Civil Disturbance put out an album like The Battle Within we ought to care because we need to start thinking bigger. As in: Portland=63,000 people; Maine=1.3 million people. If the same all-of-Maine that cares about people putting arsenic in the coffee also cares about our state’s best bands, those bands have a better shot of making being a band a full-time job.
You can get a taste of the non-love the out-of-town Civil Disturbance are feeling right in their liner notes: “To everyone who hasn’t supported or believed in us, we thank you for giving us that much more motivation to succeed.” Whether that’s all in their heads, or a reflection of some reality, it’s unclear. The album itself is full of dichotomies indicated by its title; constantly, the lyrics outline a struggle between the pulls of good and evil, between the instinct to just give up and the desire to keep on keepin’ on.
As an opener, “Pulling Me Down,” with crunching and slightly digitized guitars and drums more subtle than you’d think, puts the struggle at the forefront. “Well I can’t hold on any longer,” sings frontman Matt (this is one of those bands that don’t use last names) in a solid baritone, “Fate’s taking over/Life’s grip is getting stronger/And pulling me farther down.” This final syllable is extended way out, as the band quiets behind it, eventually getting down to a bass so low it’s like a rubber band being plucked at the low end of our human hearing spectrum. It’s very singable from the get-go, and you quickly realize that this band is more in the Iron Maiden/Megadeth/Pantera school of heavy than some of today’s hardcore types.
