Instead of a normal monthly playlist for October, we’ve collaborated with our friend Lucia from the excellent music webzine Subterraneo and Vita Detestabilis Records on a special, one-off playlist. Each of us in Ba’al has listed a few of our key influences when writing Ba’al tracks (especially the newest, unreleased material that we’re working on now), which you can read us talking about below. Lucia has added some of her favourite tracks too, so in the playlist below you’ve got a real smorgasbord of musical goodies to get stuck into.
Chris – Guitar
The Ocean – Triassic
It’s almost been a recurring joke since I joined Ba’al how much I love The Ocean – they’re right up there as my favourite band, and because of that, it’s impossible for them not to influence my songwriting and how I think about music. This track (off their newest album, Phanerozoic II) runs the gamut of their sound – from an atmospheric intro underpinned by a rhythmic vocal line up to huge, full-throated riffs and screams. It’s melodic, catchy and heavy all rolled together into an 8 and a half minute beast of a song. The big key for me is that every riff in here just makes sense – they flow into each other naturally and effortlessly. That definitely feeds into how I think we’ve been approaching new material for Ba’al – we’ve tried to get our transitions just right, so that each song ebbs and flows, builds and crashes appropriately… like an ocean!
Agalloch – Not Unlike the Waves
The now-defunct Agalloch, from Portland, Oregon, hit the sweet spot of my musical tastes – big, atmospheric riffs, haunting melodies, and a natural, earthen feel that transports me to the mist-strewn forests and mountains of their home. They tap into something deeply pagan and spiritual throughout their discography, even on tracks that don’t have a lot of lyrics – like this beast, the “single” off the phenomenal Ashes Against the Grain. It doesn’t even fully kick in until the 3 minute mark, when it settles into a steady pulse of perfectly-mixed drums, melancholy guitar and vocals that range from mournful and harmonised to high-pitched shrieks. It doesn’t feel like a 9 and a half minute long song – every section is the right length and the recurring motifs throughout keep you anchored. It’s a great example of one of my favourite writing techniques – bringing an earlier riff back (either in the same form, or amended) at the end of the song, to remind the listener of the journey you’ve taken them on.
Wolves in the Throne Room – Thuja Magus Imperium
A perfect example of the argument that black metal is (and should be) a genre with vast potential and scope. WITTR’s newest album Primordial Arcana is extremely strong, but for my money they’ve still never written anything that will top this absolutely monolithic track off 2011’s Celestial Lineage. Opening with calm synths and pristine female vocals, it slowly builds up with tremolo guitar before exploding into the frantic blasts characteristic of most BM – but there’s actual production value here, a rich sound that transports you to a deep forest glade where ancient rituals are unfolding. As it twists and turns, from blastbeats to a synth/orchestral interlude and into a doom-like outro, it never loses sight of the main objective – to shock and awe you with the majesty of nature. This track, along with others by bands like Deafheaven and Liturgy, opened my brain to the idea that you can do almost anything within a “black metal” framework – and indeed, that black metal should evolve beyond the restrictive 2nd wave/90s sound into pastures new. It’s an ethos that I tried to instil with my previous band Northern Oak (where we crossed black metal with flute melodies and folk tunes, while trying to avoid the overbearing cheesiness of most folk metal) and one I’m happy to share with the rest of Ba’al.
Joe – Vocals
Voices – Vicarious Lover
A lot of my writing for the new material has been focused around a specific theme and environment, something Voices did expertly on their album London. The blend of styles and influences being seamlessly woven together is something Ba’al has always been about and it’s something Voices do with aplomb. The sense of atmosphere as well as strong indication of place on London has been a huge inspiration to me throughout the writing process and ‘Vicarious Lover’ is a stand out track on an album with an engaging and cinematic narrative.
Rolo Tomassi – A Flood of Light
It only makes sense that I include another Sheffield band on here and this track has always been a stand out for me. The contrast between riffy musicality and subtle emotive gut punch is something I strive for when writing for Ba’al. A balance of being extreme, but not overblown. When dealing with sensitive subject matter I want it to be affecting and to linger as opposed to being a sudden jolt to the system. Sometimes less is more and a very straight forward line such as “and there you are, always” can wield heart-wrenching power.
Hecate Enthroned – Silent Conversations With Distant Stars
I was worried featuring a track from my other band might feel self-aggrandising, but this was my first time writing lyrics that were sentimental and rooted in similar themes to that which I tackle in Ba’al. The notion of how an atheist comes to terms with the death of a loved one with no concept of an afterlife is something you don’t really get from black metal bands and I was adamant it remain meaningful but heavily veiled. When I dream about people in my life who have passed away they never speak. I know that there are stars in the night sky where the light takes hundreds or thousands of years to get here and so we are looking into the past when we view them. The figure referenced in the song resides in a dream and the light in their eyes shines like that of distant stars, hence the title of ‘Silent Conversations With Distant Stars’. It’s this sense of sentimentality and suitable veiling metaphor that I build on with Ba’al; an upfront expression of the soul but with an element of privacy retained.
Nick – Guitar
Richard – Bass
Der Weg Einer Freiheit – Ein Letzter Tanz
Over the past few years, DWEF have gradually become one of my favourite black metal bands, if not my absolute favourite, and alongside that they’ve gradually become a bigger and bigger part of my influence when writing for Ba’al. So few bands of this type can create such a huge atmosphere and emotional intensity without relying solely on soft shoegazing and nice quiet parts; as much as I love that stuff too, DWEF’s way of driving all the power through the barrage of full-throated, dynamic, majestic, high-definition black metal is absolute magic in my book.
The Angelic Process – Coma Waering
Speaking of wringing every drop of emotion out of a barrage of heaviness, you can rarely get more intense than The Angelic Process – and I’m talking musically, before you even consider the tragedy that surrounds them. Coma Waering is like taking a shower in molten lava, and I mean that in the best possible way. Whilst Ba’al have never quite got to this level of absolute drone metal intensity, TAP are a true inspiration when it comes to the potency of simplicity, dynamics and a well-chosen chord progression. Diabolically, suffocatingly sublime.
Steak Number Eight – Rust
Now renamed to the less silly (and less interesting, for my money) Stake, Steak Number Eight were a pinnacle for me in terms of combining the pensive, expansive textures of post metal with the groovy, melodic and bouncy end of accessible sludge. I suppose in a similar way to the likes of Bossk, they’ll switch from one to the other on a dime, somehow still managing to craft cohesive songs, simply varying the degree to which you flex your neck, from a thoughtful nod to a full faceplanting headbang.
Luke – Drums
VOLA – Applause of a Distant Crowd
I’ve been continuously expanding the list of prog & tech bands I follow for a long while now and this is one band which really stands out to me. The combination of heavy djent riffs, with relaxed and laid back sections really helps them portray a wide selection of moods in a very immersive manner. I chose this song because of how tasteful the writing is, but even just within this album their songs vary fairly substantially in tone while still retaining VOLA’s signature sound.
Dirty Loops – Rock You
This is fairly far removed from Ba’al’s music, but this is a 3-piece powerhouse of a band. If ever I need a musical pick me up, this is my go to band. But beyond that, they are incredibly talented musicians whom I aspire to. The amount of groove they put into all of their compositions is phenomenal, and has definitely impacted my playing somewhat, and their production value is absurd. As a bit of a DIY sound engineer, their sound leaves me in awe. Truly amazing stuff.
Fleshgod Apocalypse – Monnalisa
I have always had a soft-spot for orchestral metal. It probably started off with A7X’s few orchestral pieces, but nowadays I struggle to find anything as incredible as FA. They mix heavy guitars, with beautiful orchestral parts, deep growls, piercing operatics, and frankly nutty drumming in an unmatched package. This song is one of my favourites from this album, but their discography is full of orchestral tech-death goodness and I can’t wait to see where their journey takes them.
Lucia’s Picks
Curse These Metal Hands (Conjurer x Pijn) – High Spirits
Les Discrets – Song for Mountains
Panopticon – Autumn Eternal
Sermon of Flames – Chords Rung from the Ribs of the Earth
Genghis Tron – Things Don’t Look Good
Grima – Giant’s Eternal Sleep
The Lovecraft Sextet – Miserere – Sacrificium – Opus IV
Loma Prieta – Worn Path
Regarde Les Hommes Tomber – The Renegade Son
Agriculture – How to Keep Cool
Gnaw Their Tongues – The Stench of Dead Horses on My Breath and the Vile of Existence on My Hands
Latitudes – Moorland is the Sea
Year Of No Light – Aletheia
Sheila E. – A Love Bizarre
Time Lurker – Ethereal Hands
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