BAK

Unfortunately after SCULPTURE hit the scene in 2011 these guys have only put out three shorter EPs throughout the next decade culminating with 2021's "Crater" which i found to be wimping out a bit on the metal side and going more ethnic folk prog. I was excited to see a new release has squeaked into the calendar year of 2022 at the 11th hour and once i checked out a (supposedly) new EP titled SCULPTURE i was ecstatic to hear that BaK sounded as good as their former glory from a decade ago.

Oh wait! This isn't a new release at all but rather a truncated digital release of SCULPTURE from 2011. Whaaaat? Yep, that's right. The original SCULPTURE featured ten tracks and this new digital version has only five. So what gives? In short, i have no friggin' clue. This is a DIY underground band all the way and has never released its products in physical format save a cheap homemade version of its debut now long out of print and impossible to find. My guess is there are some disputes over who owns the music or perhaps even lost files?

Whatever the case this is a disappointment to find five tracks from ten years ago without the other five all wrapped up with a new album cover and presented as something new. Yeah i missed the identical title thing first time around. BTW i don't like the new album cover. The first one served just fine. IMHO this is a total rip off! I can comprehend legal issues or problems with retaining files or something and there obviously has to be a reason why this has emerged eleven years later as half the album it once was but i really wish this band would get it together and release some real albums.

Musically speaking these five tracks are excellent, an easy four stars with a sound that makes you rock the Casbah heavy metal style! As a release though this is beyond disappointing because the original album was released digitally already but it seems to have disappeared from the internet. A mystery for sure but not one that's welcome. See my review for the full album SCULPTURE for more detailed analysis of the music itself. As for this release it's an easy 3 stars. For newbies who have never encountered this unique fusion music you are in for a treat. For us who have already been indoctrinated into the club, a basket of rotten tomatoes for this tantalizing teaser that turned out to be nothing more than recycled past glories. Bah humbug.

Sounding something like a purer folk version of Secret Chiefs 3, BAK nevertheless isn't afraid to break into metal fury and on the opening "Damage Done" even belts out some death growls for a moment or two. The EP focuses on how humans are degrading the planet and our collective impact on the environment. While BAK started out sounding like the "Black Album" Metallica album meets Middle Eastern and Indian folk music, on "Flowers" the band adopted more of a diverse sound with references to Fates Warning and Tool.

CRATER is much more orchestrated than previous releases as heard on the soundtrack quality opening of "Nasnas" which sounds like the film score for a Middle Eastern film of some sort. Not much metal on this one save a few power chords here and there with an ending riff but when BAK uses metal, it's in good taste and the guitar solos are actually quite energetically delivered. "Ends The Same" takes on the Tool influences with cyclical riffing but showcases dueling vocal styles of Fates Warning proggy operatic wailing and extreme growling. This one features some cool riffing variations as well as a swinging Arabic folk backdrop.

"Future's Reality" shifts from Arab to Indian with sounds of tablas and that Shakti sorta vocal style. This track is almost 8-minutes long and alternates between soulful vocal dominated slower passages to explosive metal choruses. This one stays fairly meditative with occasional outbursts. The melody rules. Overall this newest release from BAK doesn't seem to satisfy as much as the previous ones did. I think they hit their stride on "Flower" and this sort of retreads but for whatever reasons isn't as memorable. Still waiting for another full-length. All this one doesn't quite scratch the itch, this is definitely no clunker either.

It took five years for a followup but in 2017 BAK released its second EP titled FLOWER which found the band's unique mix of heavy metal and Arabic folk music develop even further. This one features only four tracks that add up to over 26 minutes of playing time. This one continues the band's niche of mixing Idian and Arabic folk music with different styles of metal along with progressive rock. While the Metallica influences have been long abandoned, this time around BAK sounds more like a folk fueled take of Fates Warning with strong progressive metal hooks endowed with the rich tones, timbres and musical scales of Oriental musical flavors.

There have been many comparisons of FLOWER to many heavier bands from the past. There is a strong Tool flavor in the repetitive alternative metal riffing as well as similarities to Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" but there are moments when the metal sounds a bit like Iced Earth and prog metal bands that are closer to the power metal realm. The folk and metal are mixed fairly well but moments of pure Indian folk or Arabic rhythms also are featured without any Western influences at all. The closing "Dasha Hara" in fact is a metal free zone and more akin to what you would hear on a Secret Chiefs 3 album rather than an early Myrath release. This one obviously features genuine accomplished Indian musicians including the vocalist.

I have to admit i'm a sucker for Middle Eastern scales and rhythms. The musical style is as mesmerizing as a desert mirage and BAK do an excellent job of mixing things. This one has considerably less metal moments than the previous releases and could probably be best tagged as ethno-prog with some metal moments. The production is off the chart excellent and the four tracks are quite distinct with the highlights being the two parts of the "Life & Perception" tracks in the middle. I really want more! This should've been a full album's worth but i'll take what i can get.

On SCULPTURE this band excels at creating melodic Middle Eastern musical scales that add progressive metal to the mix. What we get is a nice melodically driven symphonic metal type of sound that focuses more on the folk instrumentation than metal most for the majority of the time but does allow the metal have its time in the sun as well. Some of the lead vocal parts on the album remind me of James Hetfield on Metallica's black album. There is a lot of attention paid toward two male vocalists harmonizing melody lines and backed up by all kinds of instrumental solos. The compositions are quite catchy with bellydance type grooves and percussive drum circles providing the backbone as the rhythm section while the vocals and symphonic touches deliver the hooks with the addition of an exotic ethnic flair. Some of the vocal trade offs can bring Andrew Lloyd Weber's works to mind as well.

While the metal elements are only one ingredient in this atmospheric ethnic smorgasbord, when it is allowed off its leash can deliver some nice heavy riffs and grooves. While the vocals mostly reside on the clean side, during some of the metal outbursts death growls are allowed to get down and dirty as well. This part reminds me a bit of Therion because the female operatic singers are harmonizing with the death growls and distorted metal riffs. There are even occasional rip roaring guitar solos but only when the energy is elevated to the point where some contrast is needed. This is a pretty cool album that is excellently executed with all the elements on board working quite well together. Anyone interested in the harder rock and metal bands like Secret Chiefs 3, Orphaned Land or Myrath who fuse Middle Eastern and Indian ethnic elements with metal will absolutely love this since BAK mix it all together perfectly and always keep the prospect of too many chefs in the kitchen from getting out of hand.

"Us All" begins the set with tribal drumming and Middle Eastern orchestration and strings and hooks the listener in instantly with a nice guitar groove and passionate exchange of sung and spoken vocals alternating. This track reminds me of a prog metal band like Fates Warning teaming up with some Middle Eastern orchestra and perfectly fusing into one. The metal takes over at times but is always enshrouded in the ethnic influences. A nice melodic guitar solo is included.

"Creation" begins on a lighter note with slow string sections that lead up to a female vocalist that makes the track feel like it's going to burst into a bellydance number at any moment. The tribal percussion finally enters the scene but stays in the symphonic acoustic range with lots of vocalists harmonizing over the Middle Eastern musical scales. This one has a cool baglama (Turkish stringed instrument) solo. No metal appears until the last quarter of the track when some power riffs thrash it up and then fade out with the track.

"What We Have Done" is the longest track at over 9 minutes and begins with Indian percussion and soon becomes joined by the prog metal type vocals without the metal. But soon the power chords come in and it becomes more metal. It reverts back to the ethnic musical accompaniment. The two styles basically trade off between the ethnic and the metal with each taking their turns jumping into the limelight. Towards the end after the metal has a chance to build up a bit we get some extreme vocals that alternate between death growls and shouting which are simultaneously accompanied by an operatic choir. Pretty cool.

"The Tragedy Of Isabella Lockhardt" is a short two minute instrumental that sounds more like something off of Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" than anything else on the album. OK, whatever.

This one is more sophisticated than "Sculpture," which had many moments of sounding like Metallica's black album meets the Istanbul Oriental Ensemble with other ethnic sprinklings. On PAINTER the ethnic and symphonic efforts are much stronger and it feels like a much larger production as well. While i absolutely love the music of BAK, it does sound a bit like Myrath with Fates Warning vocals at times but unlike those bands, BAK use the metal parts sparingly on PAINTER. This is quite an enjoyable album for those who love Indian and Middle Eastern music and love metal folk fusion at its most melodic. A very decent album that i only wish was a full length one because this isn't long enough!

Another interesting fact is that I've been listening to this album for almost three month now and I'm still discovering new details in it's sound that I was completely oblivious to in the early days. Some small snippet here and there is one thing but when I completely managed to ignore the underlying keyboard arrangements is quite weird. Just like the best film scores are the ones that conveniently place themselves in the background in order to make the audience concentrate their attention on the movie in front of them, there is clearly an intention behind this layering technique that BaK so adequately have demonstrated.

If I had to mention anything that I found less appealing then it would be the lack of a total dedication of the band to their style. Yes, the instruments are all in place and sound appropriate enough, but somehow I still can't get past the feeling that the whole oriental sound is merely a gimmick from the collective. I might of course be proven wrong after BaK starts releasing one studio album after the other where they enhance their sound even more. Other than that I really can't think of any other criticism regarding this release, making it easily one of the most ambitious debuts of the decade! Having said that I just realized that I know practically nothing about this mysterious Australian act so, for all I know, it could be comprised of a supergroup formation featuring members from many established bands. But that's just my bitter speculation considering the high quality of the music and production of this release!

BaK have certainly sculptured an excellent debut that the band can be proud of for years to come. If anything, I would be amazed if the collective can recreate the same quality on their future releases, but that is left to be seen. As for now, I highly recommend Sculpture to fans of eclectic metal music or anyone who is tired of the regular metal scene and is looking for new engaging music to sink their teeth into!

***** star songs: Why (3:45) Our Time (9:11)

**** star songs: The Search (2:38) Can't Understand (7:44) Not Just Your World (7:34) Kali (3:38) Pay (4:22) Garuda (2:33) Sands Of Time (5:39) The Lament Of Curtain Von Schnauzer (6:42)