Battery 9

An Industrial project from Johannesburg, South Africa, founded by Paul Riekert in 1994. Paul is the brain of the outfit - the producer and also originator of almost all of the recorded material. Battery 9 is best known for angry, abrasive, guitar riff -driven music, which would at present be classified as industrial metal. The typical Battery 9 release, however, shows a healthy disregard for genre-confinement, with bits of electronica, techno, dub, folk music and the occasional ambient excursion creeping into the overall soundscape. Other trademarks of Battery 9 are the use of Germanic-sounding Afrikaans, as well the cynical sense of humour which permeates most of the material.

The live act burst onto the scene in 1995, featuring live action painting, power tools, scrap metal percussion and schlock horror video projections, apart from the usual instruments. Over the years, many talented individuals have contributed to the success of the live act, as it morphed into different forms with different line-ups.

The effect of listening to Battery 9 has been likened to “sipping an espresso on a runaway train while getting a foot massage”.