Baest - Colossal
A much-loved death metal band from Denmark who gained scene plaudits for their spirited and carefree delivery, Baest have thrown out a curve ball release which can perhaps be partially described as a death metal salute to 80’s denim and leather arena rock metal. Baest are nothing if not characterful so maybe the style shift on Colossal is, in retrospect, not so unexpected after all but that hasn’t stopped the surprised reaction. Anyway, when the opening track Stormbringer’s ballsy plucks start up it’s more reminiscent of 80’s indefatigable defenders of the faith Manowar or Accept. Likewise, King of the Sun has parts that are like Saxon in a jamming session with Mastadon with a sleazy, swinging riffs and the biker bar metal of Misfortunate Sun has overtones of fashion-resistant heroes, Running Wild. This isn’t bad. In fact, Baest do it very well and they are good musicians but this has caught a lot of people off guard and it remains to be seen how long-term fans dig this.
The hoary rock metal isn’t the vein of the whole record and Colossal can be a wee bit hard to define sometimes. The title track and Mouth of the River are more conventionally death metal and probably what everyone who was looking forward to this record was anticipating and the beautifully titled Imp of the Perverse has a doomy, crawling vibe. One invariable factor that flinches for no man is the vocal delivery. Consistently low-register death metal roaring remains throughout which, when combined with sleazy, dusty road rock is all the more off kilter.
Arguably, the best impact of Colossal is watching reactions to it. For a genre that purports to not take itself too seriously, death metal sure does have its stylistic stipulations that its doyens are expected to abide by. An observation of Colossal is that Baest don’t care about any of it. It’s partly experimental and there is an undeniable, blithely headbanging rock element that re-incarnates 1980s rock metal swagger. Could you call it party death metal? It’s not too far off the mark. If you take things too seriously, why even listen to Baest or even death metal in the first place. Colossal isn’t perfect: it has highs, drags very occasionally, headbangs with attitude and confuses at the same time - but the band have just gone this project unapologetically. Hilariously they have made the death metal scene cough up their cornflakes in confusion and every now and again that is needed.
Here is the link to bandcamp: https://baestband.bandcamp.com/album/colossal-24-bit-hd-audio