Stand out from the Rest

MELBOURNE’S lords of doom, drone and dirge rock, Batpiss, are flying in to launch their latest album in Tasmania this weekend.

Thomy Sloane (bass, vocals), Paul Pirie (guitar, vocals) and Marty Baker (drums) formed Batpiss in Collingwood in 2011 and set about unleashing an “unyielding cataclysm of dirge rock” that would soon see them sharing stages with the likes of The Bronx, Guitar Wolf, King Parrot and OFF!

The trio’s 2013 debut album Nuclear Winter quickly sold out, before they explored the parameters of heaviness, emotion and storytelling on their frenzied 2015 follow-up Biomass.

For Record Store Day in April, Nick Finch from Melbourne “horror country” band Graveyard Train rerecorded several Batpiss tracks gospel-style for a special limited-edition release called Baptist.

Last month Batpiss released their discordant and dissonant third album, Rest In Piss, featuring the haunting lead single Weatherboard Man — which Rolling

Stone described as “blunt and brutal, unfiltered social commentary that cut through with gut-punching clarity” — and new single Paralyzed, which “rages against the deep, disconcerting apathy of modern Australia”.

Recorded and produced by Gareth Liddiard of The Drones, Rest In Piss delves deep into the darkest, dankest parts of the Australian psyche.

“The album itself is about dead mates and some of the stuff that comes with missing them,” Pirie says.

Batpiss kick off their national Rest In Piss launch tour with a show at Hobart’s Brisbane Hotel from 8.30pm tomorrow. They will be supported by Melbourne rock band Grim Rhythm and locals A. Swayze and the Ghosts and The Dreggs. Tickets are $10 (plus booking fee) pre-sale from www.oztix.com.au, or $12 at the door.

Batpiss also play at Club 54 in Launceston on Saturday night.