BAK — Flower (review)

BAK — Flower album cover EP · 2017 · Progressive Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
siLLy puPPy
Sydney, Australia’s BAK haven’t been the most prolific prog metal band on the scene but this duo Beau (guitar, bass, baglama) and Kit (drums, percussion, keyboards, piano) with their ensemble of extra musicians has continued to stay relevant by releasing a series of short EPs following the band’s sole full-length release “Sculpture” in 2011. Immediately following was “Painter” in 2012 which found the band graduating from a “Black Album” era Metallica meets Arabic folk ensemble duo to a more sophisticated progressive rock / metal act.

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.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Opus Ferox II - Mark Of The Beast Progressive Metal
LOCH VOSTOK
Buy this album from MMA partners
Rankarumpu Folk Metal
KORPIKLAANI
Buy this album from MMA partners
… And the Universe Keeps Silent Death Metal
MAERE
Buy this album from MMA partners
Le bannissement Atmospheric Black Metal
CANTIQUE LÉPREUX
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tarantula Heart Sludge Metal
MELVINS
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Fallen Ashes - Wage War (Official Lyric Video)
FALLEN ASHES
Bosh66· 9 days ago
EXISTENTIAL DEAD - Unreality (Single) 2024
EXISTENTIAL DEAD
Bosh66· 9 days ago
EXISTENTIAL DEAD - Cold Hands
EXISTENTIAL DEAD
Bosh66· 9 days ago
IRON MONKEY - Misanthropizer (Official Music Video)
IRON MONKEY
Bosh66· 12 days ago
??? (Losing ART) - "????" (Official Music Video) [HD]
漂浮者樂團
Bosh66· 12 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed