SONG REVIEW: The Tale Untold - "Battleground"
The Tale Untold Displays Extremely Raw and Extremely Heaviness with Battleground
by Jesse Smith
Back in my scene days, I remember I used to find new bands by clicking through the related video rabbit hole on YouTube and boy did I find so many bands that way. This was in the 2010 area and I remember liking the bands that were unapologetically heavy. When I listened to The Tale Untold’s new track, “Battleground” for the first time I instantly got that familiar feeling. It checks off every box my 13 year old self would have immediately been hooked, which means 25 year old me now is also intrigued. Coming from Nebraska, The Tale Untold is a 5 piece act that has punchy downtuned guitars and one bad ass vocalist, and as I listened through the song a couple more times I felt more and more stand out and catch my attention.
For starters, the music video is a low budget masterpiece. No crazy effects or wild edits, just in your face action and flashing lights. Simplicity is sick and I’m all for it. The music video compliments and in a way embodies the song, its raw and brutal nature needs a raw and brutal visual. The song kicks in with that slow unsettling picked out semitone “panic chord”. Usually, that means someone is dying in the pit, or atleast a KO.. so starting out the song that way was a bold statement, so I was invested. The whole beginning is super unique though, it feels like a giant build up for about a minute. The vocals are the selling point at this part being so raw and visceral that it just makes you want to wait for the kick in, and I wasn’t disappointed. As the song cut with the “you see my face” bit, I was hooked. With a clanky and chunky tone, the rhythmic guitar pattern sets the heavy while that panic chord is still setting the eerie mood. The highlight for me of this track is when the vocalist hits her highs. Majority of the song she’s in this low gutteral which is cool, but those piercing highs were out of this world. It was like hearing Chelsea Grin’s EP for the first time again.
Battleground sounds like it was made for that exact thing, the battleground. The song you listen to before fighting to get you ready for war. Something about the barebones mix just has me gassed about this record. I would love to see heavier stuff from this band with focus on the higher screams, I personally think that will set the band apart. Having a female vocalist that can hit those low gutturals with ease is cool, but those highs really kick ass. This is the song I would show someone to convince them to be a fan of The Tale Untold.