Review: Ba’al – Ellipsism

Style: Blackened Post-Metal
Review by: Callum
Country: United Kingdom
Release date: October 30, 2020

I think it would be reasonable for me to acknowledge that I often hold black metal at a distance. The lo-fi recording, barrage of unrelenting blast beats and tremolo picking, shrieked vocals, and corpse paint motifs just never settled with me. I also realize that’s a reductionist and uninformed point of view, and there must be more to such a long-lived and firmly cemented genre. Still, there is a cold and unfulfilling hollowness there that, to my ears, yearns to be filled. That is until bands like Deafheaven and Alcest started to bridge this bleak void with the textures, depth, and triumphant climaxes typical of post-metal. Ba’al, with their debut full-length, build on this idea while adding their own brutal darkness to the mix. Ellipsism combines the aforementioned classic black metal traits with mammoth doom riffs and shoegaze sequences into a savage and emotional journey.

Don’t let the intro to “Long Live” fool you. Despite the initial onslaught of tremolo picked guitars and distant shrieked vocals, this develops into an atmospheric drone, and then further into an unexpectedly groovy guitar riff. All of this culminates in a wall of noise true to form for any post-metal act worth their salt. Not to mention two consecutive, monstrous screams from Joe Stamps. His dynamism between gritty growls and raspy shrieks, and the impressive lung capacity required for the prolonged screams are showcased in nearly every track on this album. In “An Orchestra of Flies”, familiar blast beat patterns follow a Sumac-like doom opening. Then, a chunky palm-muted guitar riff gets savagely broken down by a nasty bass slide/drum fill combo. These transitions between sections feel natural despite the differing genre influences, and are the crux of what make Ba’al effective songwriters.

Likewise, transitions between tracks are smooth and the pacing of the album is well thought out. Three short, ambient, and brooding interludes are a welcome respite to digest some of the cathartic walls-of-noise as in “Jouska”, and to prepare for the onslaught of drums in “Tarred and Feathered”. The third interlude features a spoken word passage that adds an emotional weight and builds further senses of brutality, desperation, and exhaustion. These pent up feelings find release through the climax of the final track, “Rosalia”, as vocals break under strain, while simultaneously surrounded by sweet violins and hard-struck guitar chords and drums. These textured glimmers of emotion that cut through the dark brutality make Ellipsism feel like a mature record for a relatively young band.

Production should be commended here too. The record sounds massive, as if it’s coming from some leagues-deep chasm. Take the agonising tempo slowing during the outro of “Tarred and Feathered” that sounds very Ahab, or the gaps between drum hits in “An Orchestra of Flies” where the snare echoes off the walls of the cavern during the empty quarter note rests. It’s a technical feat to make the tight blast beat passages feel at home between drawn out doom riffs – akin to UK contemporaries Conjurer – and post-rock melodies as with Rolo Tomassi, also of Sheffield. Ellipsism transcends the common tropes of black metal and bridges the gap with post-metal seamlessly, which I am totally on board with and I look forward to seeing where it leads the band. Long live Ba’al.

Recommended tracks: An Orchestra of Flies, Rosalia, Long Live
Recommended for fans of: Sumac, Inter Arma, Alcest
Final verdict: 9/10

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Label: Clobber Records – Website | Facebook

Ba’al is:
– Nick Gosling (Guitar)
– Richard Spencer (Bass, Viola)
– Joe Stamps (Vocals)
– Luke Rutter (Drums)
– Tom Arnold (Guitar)