10 Best Hard Rock & Heavy Metal EPs Of 2017
1. Ba’al – In Gallows By Mass
The history of black metal is one that can be divided into two hugely separate subsects: the first- and second-wave of the genre – both focused more on lo-fi extremity and envelope-pushing – and post-black metal, which leans closer to ethereal progressiveness and ambient dream rock. Aside from the most basic of aspects, these two portions of the black metal timeline rarely intersect, with newer names like Ghost Bath and Deafheaven feeling almost oppositional to such gritty innovators as Mayhem and Darkthrone.
This is where Ba’al come in.
The band made their rowdy debut in 2017 with their half-hour In Gallows by Mass EP, and in doing so united black metal stylings old and new with a ride simultaneously ambient and insanely heavy. While opener “Black River” begins the EP with a crescendo of down-tuned sludge and agonised wails, the bridge of the lengthy “Days of Yore” rings with a slow, undistorted and clean-sung refrain.
It’s little wonder, then, that Ba’al are already beginning to make waves, laying out a monster of a set on the New Blood Stage of Bloodstock Festival earlier this year, before receiving acclaim for this, their first ever release. For fans of Wolves in the Throne Room and Barishi, the Ba’al hype train is one that you had better leap onto immediately.