Meet BA`AL, Blackened doom/sludge/post metal from Sheffield, UK. We were lucky enough to get the single "Thy sorrow" from BA`AL before release on april 13th to give our thoughts, and it is very appreciated!
The single was recorded by the master himself "Russ Russel" at "Parlour Studios" as part of Bloodstocks Metal to The Masses(M2TM) prize. If you are thinking about doing M2TM i could not recommend it enough all the experience and contacts you make are invaluable let alone playing BOA! I digress.... lets start the review of "Thy Sorrow".
Immediately bounds in with a crunching groove that would make the devil shake under its weight, accompanied by intense growl screams of front man steffan making you feel the pain and prowess of his vocal. Varied intense atmospheric guitar sections cut through the groove and create substantial build to the track and stomps its way to the atmospheric ambiance of a almost western sounding guitar and steffans hauntingly beautiful singing.
The song Climaxes halfway to a epic solo that seriously reminded me of "the edge" from "U2" joined with haunting highs by steffan creating a incredible atmosphere, Then back into the first section of the song bringing the groove back and aggressive vocals.
Soon returning to a climax again with intense tremolos and steffans vocal aggressively screams at the listener! To then a transition into a doomy breakdown section which feels like its building into something it does, Open notes and single strums with a guitar sounding like its decaying out the end of the track combined with a haunting vocal to close the track with a wave of echoed distortion. Wow.
Overview: Will 100% buy. BA`AL really showed they are a a force to be reckoned with and combined with russ russel its a ferocious pairing! i am SO curious to what releases come next from these lads and i will be waiting.
9/10 RIFFS