BA'AL Interview

BA’AL hail from Germany and play an exquisite form of metal, death metal, and hardcore, that once again proves that European bands of this caliber have a lot more to offer. BA’AL carries the very rare promise of intelligent blends of heavy music that will not leave you in boredom. TheHXC spoke with BA’AL about their motives behind their excellent song writing, their sophomore effort as well as their purpose in the heavy music world as it pertains to their fine abilities as musicians and song writers.

TheHXC: When Did BA'AL form?

Steffen: The band was formed about three years ago in late 2002. The first show we played in December 2002.

TheHXC: When Did BA'AL form? What does BA'AL mean exactly? Does its name have an influence on your lyrics?

Steffen: The name Baal is taken from the first book written by Bertolt Brecht. He was a very political author and our lyrics are quite political as well. So the name indeed has influences on our lyrics and statements. But we also use the apostrophe in our name to show the connections to the historical and mystical figure of Ba’al who was one of the main gods in the Middle East.

TheHXC: When Did BA'AL form ?You guys call yourself "Asskickcore". Is this basically being thrown at the bullshit crappy Metalcore bands that are spilling everywhere or is it just a way to describe BA'AL?

Steffen: We just had the intention to add one more stupid label to the pool of other stupid labels ;) When we played our first shows people always said that we kicked ass like hell. So we decided to use that as the label for our future plans…I’m afraid that there was no big cogitation about it.

TheHXC: When Did BA'AL form? Do you guys get called Metalcore a lot?

Steffen: Yes, we always get called a Metalcore band. I don’t care about that. It’s mainly like I said before. You can’t sell the people anything without putting a label on it. So maybe the Metalcore label is what describes it best to most people. But it also depends on the context. When we play with “real” Metal bands no one toys with the idea to add the label “core” to it. ;)
We all grew up with Hardcore and different styles of Metal, so I guess it’s just a logical consequence that we now mix those styles. But the main focus we’ve always set on the Metal part.

TheHXC: When Did BA'AL form? What are the bands current touring plans of Europe? Any chance for a U.S. Tour?

Steffen: There are two short tours planned in March/April, but by now nothing is ripe for decision. But we played and play almost every weekend somewhere over here. A US-Tour unfortunately is out of sight at the moment. We’re working hard on our new material. Maybe after a new album there are new doors opened for us.

TheHXC: When Did BA'AL form? What kind of metal bands influence you guys the most? I hear an assortment of kinds, death metal, grind, Swedish death metal.

Steffen: Oh, that’s quite impossible to mention them all. First I gotta part between bands that influenced me in since I was a baby and bands that influence me in the presence. So to the first group I would add bands like SLAYER, SEPULTURA, BOLT THROWER, AT THE GATES or the holy NEUROSIS. The second group is full of bands like VADER, AMON AMARTH, ABORTED, BLOODBATH, LAMB OF GOD or the absolutely fabulous DEW SCENTED. But there are dozens more worth mentioning!

TheHXC: When Did BA'AL form? Are there any BA'AL members in other projects?

Steffen: There aren’t that many former members. Actually there’s only our old shouter Henk who is a real former member. Henk is the guy you can hear on both of our recordings. He decided to leave the band after finishing school and civilian service to go to Australia for a while. Meanwhile he’s back in Germany but lives and studies on the other edge of the country. But I don’t know if he already found a new band.

But there’s another guy who used to be our shouter for about 3 or more rehearsals when the band was found. His name is Marco and now he’s the singer in a band called BURY MY SINS (www.burymysins.com). Those guys are the closest friends we have and their album will be out on CIRCULATION RECORDS in January 2006. Be prepared, those guys are killers!

TheHXC: When Did BA'AL form? Will the first BA'AL EP have a re-release through Circulation Records?

Steffen: No, it’s been a demo and nothing but that. All the songs from the EP are also included on the full-length. So there’s no need to re-release it.

TheHXC: When Did BA'AL form? Are your lyrics in German? If so do you find it harder to sing than in English or easier?

Steffen: Nope. If we wanna reach people outside of Germany with our music, we can’t use German lyrics. And reaching as many people as possible all over the globe is our main aim. Anything else would be stupid.

TheHXC: When Did BA'AL form? You guys released “The Lilith Complex” in July of last year, are there recording plans lined up for a sophomore release yet?

Steffen: Yes, we’re just working hard on new stuff. Within the last year after the release we set the focus on playing live. But now we wanna use the winter to write some new songs. In the middle of December we’re gonna record some of the new material as a new demo. It will be much more Death Metal than before. We’ll see how people will like it.

TheHXC: When Did BA'AL form? That's all on my end thank you for your time, is there anything you would like to add?

Steffen: Thanks for reading these lines and for listening to our music, guys! Stay political!