If you were wondering what the exact term is for the dread you’re experiencing, the dread of an uncertain future, the dread caused by being constantly reminded of sickness and death – Ba’al from Sheffield can help you with that. Ellipsism is what they chose to name their debut album, and that is exactly the word you were looking for. Ellipsism is the term for the feeling of sadness that arises when you realize that your life, no matter what comforts you enjoy, can end from one moment to another, and that the future, whatever it may hold, will unfold without you.
If you know your way around extreme music the above should already tell you what genre this album belongs to. Yes, this can be filed under the brooding, ruminating post spectrum, specifically that of the blackened kind. Named defiantly after the ancient Middle Eastern deity the Bible decries as a false god, Ba’al see themselves as the “blackened post metal sorcerers of sorrow” and call their debut album a “blackened post metal journey”.
And quite a journey it is! While the “post” label has almost developed into a swear word these days, Ba’al and Ellipsism will remind you that there really is no reason to start rolling your eyes when you hear that word mentioned in connection with music – certainly not a priori.
The album’s opener Long Live should already catch your interest. In the beginning, the ten-minute track rages “fiercely at the futility of the human condition”, with fast drumming, guitar feedback and shrieky vocals. Then the music takes a turn to the atmospheric and melancholic, only to become aggressive again. So far, so familiar, you might say – and you’d be right. But what distinguishes Ba’al from myriad similar bands is focus. Although the mood does become more pessimistic in the course of the album, and Rosalia is a deeply sad last track, Ellipsism never gets too sentimental. The band manages to preserve just the right balance between atmospheric/melancholic and fast/aggressive parts.
Overall, the hour-long journey takes you through a whirlwind of emotions represented by complex, varied soundscapes. Plenty of hooks await you along the way. I like the fast black metal parts best, but doom and sludge fans won’t be disappointed either. Ellipsism has plenty to offer for lovers of all of the genres mentioned.
The performance of everybody involved is first-rate, but I feel that the vocals deserve to be singled out, simply because the listener naturally focuses on them. And a lot of good music has been ruined by bad vocals. Joe Stamps, who is also the vocalist for Hecate Enthroned, proves that he has enough experience to prevent his menacing shrieks and howls from ever becoming annoying.
Ellipsism is at the same time an exciting, pleasing and devastating listening experience. It is definitely an album worth owning and Ba’al are surely a band to look out for.
(8/10 Slavica)
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