The Bay Area's Battery has spent years crafting its unique sound based on synth-based melodies and industrial rhythms. On "Aftermath," the band creates a nine-song manifesto of jilted love, revenge and resolution where hard-edged crescendos and lush, murmuring landscapes mirror vocalist Maria Azavedo's emotional dexterity.

The first half of the record is predominantly furious as wizards Shawn Brice and Evan Sornstein craft pummeling rhythms and jagged melodies to complement Azavedo's lyrical delivery. Her crystalline vocals are all spite, hammering lines like "I hope you hurt as much as me," from the title track and "Get off your knees/I'd spit in your face/But you'd take it as a compliment," from "Pity."

By contrast, the second half is more wistful, though at times no less bitter. "Is she broken enough for you?" Azavedo croons in the gorgeous ballad "Last of August," speaking of an ex-lover's new beau. In tracks like "Wist" and "Never Left" she reveals the wisdom of the brokenhearted over layers of gossamer orchestration. The album closes with a rare cover of The Cure's "All Cats Are Grey."

"Aftermath" is as close to a master work as Battery has produced thus far, but it is by no means a zenith for this group, which only continues to improve with every release.

-- Beth Winegarner

This article was originally published in BAM magazine.