Ba’al – The Fine Line Between Heaven and Here
Ba’al – The Fine Line Between Heaven and Here
Road To Masochist
18/07/2025
Review by Oli Gonzalez
9/10
It was just over a year ago since I had the opportunity – no, privilege – to see Ba’al perform live in my own backyard here in Manchester, supporting highly regarded Danish Black Metal act Sunken on a run of shows across the UK. I had been highly impressed with their EP “Soft Eyes” in early 2024 and could see their innovative approach to Black Metal unfold in the flesh. An approach that incorporates the slower, more brooding atmospheric elements of post-metal, much in the style of Amenra, MOL., et al. This intelligent blend of styles has got (soft) eyes in Ba’als direction for all the right reasons, making them shine bright in a stacked UK Black Metal scene. Having reigned triumphant in their Metal To The Masses campaign in Sheffield and landing a New Blood Stage slot in 2017, they will return to Bloodstock Open Air this summer but this time on the Sophie stage. I’m sure their set will be armed with tracks from their upcoming effort “The Fine Line Between Heaven and Here”, and I have front row seats for a sneaky preview! Strap yourselves in but make sure you have some refreshments handy as the songs here hover unapologetically around the 10 minute mark. Let’s get into some UK post-Black Metal!
The album opens with ‘Mother’s Concrete Womb’. Rather than being slapped in the face with a barrage of blast beats, we’re treated to a rather emotional and softer 90 second piano opening segment. Then the guitars and drums join in. Can we just talk about how insane those guitar tones are! Warm, vibrant and larger than life, the guitarists have clearly done their homework! It takes almost 3.5 minutes to be introduced to vocalist Joe. He’s just as fierce and relentless as he was on “Soft Eyes”, and on that live show here in Manchester last May! It seems as though he’s incorporating more lower growls into his repertoire now. As well as utilising a half-spoken, half-sang cleaner approach in a storytelling telling capacity (this makes a return later in the album too). Evolution is a wonderful thing after all and I love to see it. I’m not sure you’re ready. Ready for the blistering climax to the end of this number. This got replayed a few times, that’s for sure!
Much like the opening track, ‘Waxwork Gorgon’ starts with a slower, more gentle introduction. Though we get the opportunity to get our necks warmed up for festival season with some good ol’ fashioned head banging grooves! That’s the theme of this song; while there’s some superb lead guitar riffs, this is definitely more towards the Groove end of the Extreme Metal spectrum. Though the sonic atmospheric leads make a return during ‘Floral Cairn’, and I’m loving every last one of them! I just hope that when they play Bloodstock this summer (or anywhere else for that matter), they have sound engineers who can get the very best out of them!
Now I could continue to describe every song in painstaking detail. Or I could summarise this album very concisely for you. In a scene full of budget versions of Bathory and wannabe Emperors, there’s bands like Ba’al who have gone back to the drawing board and redefined what Black Metal can and could be! You’ll find yourself pulled apart in multiple directions musically in what is a delightfully complex and densely textured masterpiece in composition. The album loses a mark as, like I mentioned earlier, the song lengths are around 10 minutes on average (and the whole album being 65 minutes or so) which can feel like a bit of an effort at times, and certainly will deter more casual listeners. Though I’m sure you’ll find yourself dipping into your favourite passages come release day! If you have time for only one song, make it ‘Legasov’. This sums up everything that is wonderful about the band. Crushing grooves intertwined with calmer ambient passages, soaring lead guitars, and a crescendo that is blistering as it is epic which demands to be replayed!
Make no mistake about it, “The Fine Line Between Heaven and Here” will be featuring on many top 10s at the end of 2025. Ba’al already have an appearance at Bloodstock to their name, and I’m pretty sure their name should be appearing on the posters of Damnation, Fortress, and other Extreme Metal festivals up and down the country, and further into Europe! “The Fine Line Between Heaven and Here” might just be the catalyst for this.
TRACKLISTING:
01. Mother’s Concrete Womb
02. Waxwork Gorgon
03. Floral Cairn
04. Well Of Sorrows
05. The Ocean That Fills A Wound
06. Legasov
LINKS:
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