Ba’al‘s 2024 EP Soft Eyes already left quite an impression on the RMR crew here. Melancholy-ridden, harsh Post Black and Black Metal riding down our earphones like there’s no tomorrow. This wild and pretty unusual concoction rocked rapidly to the top of the list of our frugal offering of last year’s shorties and EPs.1 And this came with a promise of more to come soon.
So, sure enough, here they are with a new rough-hewn and doom-laden piece unwieldily called The Fine Line Between Heaven and Here. This is yet another band unconcerned with precise genres. And that’s a good thing, by the way. Instead, Ba’al yet again surprised this crew with strangely soft musings, a blend of brutal Black Metal, skin-peeling Blackened Death, and Post Black interludes. All of that is interspersed with ambient passages, hauntingly doom-laden melodic interludes, and a few frankly tasty excursions into the alternative realms with a penchant for the progressive. But, all of the above would not exist without a heavy layer of Atmospheric Black Metal, in essence the backbone of the record. A mix somewhere in between Ellende, Harakiri for the Sky, Todtgelichter, and Agrypnie.
Said differently, the RMR crew found another contender sailing close to the Austro-Bavarian Forest Metal crowd with their merciless atmospheric musings that suddenly go for your jugular vein. But The Fine Line Between Heaven and Here‘s main strength lies in the seemingly effortless coalescence of unforgiving heavy music with often beautifully crafted, ghostlike melodic passages filled with ambient and quietly emotive elements.
If anything, Ba’al increased the level of anguish and desperation over their last offering. To the point that the melancholy section of the piece almost smothers the rest. And this can be a curse or a blessing. Luckily, the band didn’t overdo it, and this astonishingly in-yer-face desperation nicely fills the blank spots still left over. In a way, I often got vibes that Ashenspire already dispersed in 2022. Agreed, the latter sports a totally different style, but the theme and forlorn misery are similar. And – both bands bitch about their run-down UK cities and their many problems. To illustrate, Ba’al hail from Sheffield, whereas Ashenspire dwell in Glasgow.
If you’re searching for the essence of the record, look now further than the first track, Mother’s Concrete Womb. From harsh blackened ferocity to neat excursions into Post Metal, it’s all there. In contrast, the softly crooning ambient parts stood out most. And while the first track might, in essence, also be the most powerful, there’s more. You’ll get astonishing aggression in Floral Cairn, mainly in the guitar works and the brutal Black Metal rasps that seem to be omnipresent at every corner of the record. One of the hallmarks of The Fine Line truly is the riffing, by the way. From traditional Black Metal fare, the band suddenly moves into burly, meaty riffs that frankly took our breath away. Well of Sorrows kinda hits the same vein, but it sports a smoother and more accomplished look and feel than its brother in crime.
Ba’al ain’t no stranger to lengthy tracks either. The Ocean that Fills the Wound provides you with an ebb and flow of emotions and sludgy doomish desperation. This time with a focus on clears that will – progressively – morph into harsh and merciless Extreme Metal. Yet another neat surprise in an overly lengthy record.
Ultimately, though, The Fine Line Between Heaven and Here clearly moves beyond the aforementioned Soft Eyes. Ba’al found a pretty compelling balance between hauntingly soft melodic interludes and the harshest metal. And they do that by ensuring that the transitions from one diametrically opposite style to the other feel seamless and effortless. But we all know, of course, that this is anything but. So, kudos to a band on the rise. Yet again, an outfit that isn’t very concerned about genres, but instead uses them to express a forlorn yet never overblown theme of often mid-tempo and sludge-laden woe and tribulation. Crafty geekery in action, no less.
Record Rating: 9/10 | Label: Road to Masochist | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 18 July 2025
- And now upper echelon management @ RMR are thinking about a late edition of a 2024 top 3. Go figure.-↩