Shadows flicker over Sheffield’s steel as BA’AL, a band woven from the city’s post-industrial spirit, unleashes their bleak vision of post-metal. Their new single, “Ornamental Doll,” accompanied by a video from Olga Kann, is a stark exploration of living on the autism spectrum. Isolation’s bite, the sting of being misunderstood—these are the threads from which this track is spun, weaving childhood’s stark realities into the fabric of adult life.
With the unveiling of “Ornamental Doll,” BA’AL, featured in our black metal/screamo/post-metal/post-hardcore compilation special “You Matter: Part III” emerges as a beacon of hope and solidarity. also invites us into the dense, moody atmosphere of their upcoming EP, “Soft Eyes.” The new sngle offers a labyrinth of introspection, a chance to wander through the intricate emotional landscapes BA’AL paints with sound.
Their collaboration with Joe Clayton and Brad Boatright has forged a sound both heavy and delicate, capturing an alchemy that’s as much about texture as it is about transformation. The EP title, a hint at empathy, reflects the band’s intent to delve into nuanced emotional territories, seeking to understand and be understood.
Ahead of the single’s release, delve into our interview where BA’AL peels back the veil on their creative process. Here, the band members articulate the evolution of their sound—from the raw mourning of earlier works to the sophisticated emotional palettes of their latest. Find the full conversation below.
Can you articulate the metamorphosis of Ba’al’s sound from the mournful dirges of “Ellipsism” to the intricate emotional landscapes painted in “Soft Eyes”?
Chris: I don’t think there’s been a drastic change in approach since I joined the band shortly after Ellipsism was released, but having a solidified line-up has helped us spend more time working on the intricacy and detail of our new material, and I’ve sought to bring my own influences and ideas to the table to build on the incredibly strong foundation that Ellipsism put in place. The goal has remained the same – to create powerful, emotionally affecting songs that go from crushingly heavy all the way to light and uplifting.
Richard: The process and the intent has remained the same, but as well as having Chris’ input for the first time, we also tried to push ourselves a bit more musically, adding in new textures and instrumentation alongside our existing sounds.
With the opening saga of ‘Ornamental Doll,’ there’s a sense of emotional vivisection. What stories are etched within its melodies and how does it aim to unravel the listener?
Chris: When we were putting together the music for Ornamental Doll, we didn’t have a specific theme in mind – the structure flowed together pretty organically. We built off some ideas written during the COVID-19 lockdowns and added new sections in the practice room. When our vocalist Joe started working on the lyrics (an examination of growing up on the autistic spectrum and the difficulty and isolation that can come with that) and we brought the two elements together, we discovered some alchemy at work – the music paints a picture of an angular and uncomfortable world that you’re the wrong shape for, and the lyrics convey that impression perfectly. It retains the ebb and flow signature of our sound, with delicacy and aggression coexisting, but we hope that when people listen to it they gain a little more appreciation for those feelings of discomfort and how childhood experiences can irrevocably shape the person that we become in adulthood.
The visceral narrative of your new music video for ‘Ornamental Doll’ is as haunting as it is revealing. What does the track—and its visual counterpart—seek to unearth within its viewers?
Chris: As with the song itself, we hope it communicates a sense of unease and of not fitting in – but at the same time highlights the beauty of solitude and the tranquility that can come from that. Ultimately, we all suffer when forced into situations that we’re uncomfortable with, and there’s nothing wrong with seeking peace and quiet – some empathy and understanding of others’ situations can make the world a better place. The title of the EP (‘Soft Eyes’) also points at this – it’s the concept of having empathy and trying to see things from another’s point of view, to understand how their experiences have shaped them. We hope these messages come across in the video and the lyrics.
Richard: This is a prime example of our vocalist Joe being adept at writing something that is both deeply personal and widely applicable, and the video captures that highly emotional yet slightly vague, detached vibe I think.
Share a glimpse behind the veil of ‘Ornamental Doll’s’ production. What elements of the track’s spirit did you wish to capture and how did the visual medium enhance its story?
Chris: We gave our creative collaborator on the video (Olga Kann) a brief for the kind of atmosphere we wanted to reflect, which was something unsettling and old-fashioned (in keeping with the song’s themes of a fractured and disrupted childhood). Beyond that, we largely gave Olga the creative freedom to produce something that matches the lyrics and atmosphere of the song, and we’re very happy with the result – she went above and beyond to tell the story of Ornamental Doll in a visual form.
Richard: Olga came recommended by a few other friends in bands, and we couldn’t be happier with the result!
In the crafting of this epic, where within the shadowed valleys between genres did you find the clay for your most recent sculptures of sound?
Richard: Our general touchstones of post metal, black metal, sludge, doom and bits of metalcore and prog are all there, but as mentioned before we tried to push the boat out a bit more this time, too. What’s probably the most obvious on Ornamental Doll is the addition of synths – written by us but bolstered in sound by the fancy hardware of guest synth player Graham McElearney – and noise/samples/electronic effects. On other tracks on the EP, there are also full string quartet arrangements, written by me and performed by me and guest cellist Alex Marshall.
Chris: Since joining the band, I’ve appreciated how no genre is really off limits during the writing process – we all have a wide range of influences, and our creative environment is welcoming and freeform enough that we all feel free to incorporate a lot of sounds into our riffs. Ornamental Doll ventures from black metal through post-hardcore, doom/sludge and post-metal and coalesces into noise/electronica to finish, showcasing how we can take disparate influences (within a wider sphere of “heavy music”) and meld them together.
The collaborations on this album have summoned something palpable. Could you describe the alchemy of working with Joe Clayton and Brad Boatright, and how their particular sorcery influenced the final incantation?
Chris: Working with Joe Clayton was a fantastic experience – he’s one of the best producers of heavy music in the world today, and he did a great job of keeping us on track in the studio and fostering an environment of creative freedom and experimentation. We did a lot of preparatory work before we started recording in order to address the challenge we’d set ourselves and he was invaluable in guiding us through it and getting the best performances out of us. We went to Brad because he did a great job on Ellipsism and clearly understands how we want to sound, and he once again excelled by giving the songs the final polish they needed.
Richard: We were very lucky to have such unanimously positive experiences in the recording of our first album that it was really a no-brainer to go back to the same people again this time around. Both Joe and Brad are a joy to work with – lovely people, super professional, and able to make us sound massive!
As architects of ambience, how did you ensnare and distill the ethereal elements of gothic mourning and the visceral energy of sludge and black metal into the tapestry of “Soft Eyes”?
Chris: Post-metal, with its focus on quiet-loud dynamics and building atmospheres, is a key element of our sound. With Soft Eyes we were determined to push those dynamics further than on our previous releases and to embrace a wider range of sounds and textures than before. We challenged ourselves to incorporate more elements into the background and create something that sounds rich and full (shading into symphonic/gothic territory at times) while also retaining the sledgehammer intensity of the crushing downtuned riffs and the soaring black metal leads that have characterized Ba’al since the start of the band.
Sheffield’s forge has been busy; which emerging bands from your local sphere in 2023 and 2024 have caught your ear, and might they be shaping the future soundscape?
Chris: The Sheffield scene is stronger than it’s ever been at the moment, with a lot of bands across a variety of subgenres producing great music. Some of those bands include naisian (post-metal), Mouths (sludge metal/alt. rock), New Ghost (heavy shoegaze/dream pop), Gozer (post-metal), Terminal Sun (groove/industrial metal), Bansith (alt. metal/metalcore) and Tekrar Eden (prog/psych rock). It’s an exciting time for the city, and we hope that others continue to take note of the strength of our creative scene.
As Ba’al’s music continues to evolve, what unexplored territories or concepts does the band dream of venturing into next?
Richard: We’ve never really set out with specific themes in mind for new material before, but I know Joe has a few in mind that he wants to try, so it’ll be interesting to see how doing things that way round works. Otherwise, as Chris said, our lack of concrete rules on what is or isn’t allowed in a Ba’al song means that future material could push into various directions as yet uncharted, which is exciting! We’re never short of song ideas – it’s just how long and complicated they end up that makes them take time…
Chris: We’re all pushing towards the same goal, which is to keep making music that affects people and gives them a strong sense of emotional catharsis. We’ll keep working towards that and see how far it takes us, as there are still a lot of topics and concepts that we haven’t yet touched on. We sincerely hope that you’ll continue on the journey with us as we unveil more new music in the future.
