Band:	Baal
Album:	State Of Aggression
Style:	Melodic death metal
Release date:	2002
A review by:	Herzebeth

01. C.O.M.A.
02. Metal Legions
03. The Shining
04. Beholding Remains
05. Fear Hunter
06. End Of Eternity
07. Warcall
08. Conquest Heir's
09. A Final Breath

I saw Baal performing live a couple of months ago in some local concert, their execution blew me away badly, this band seemed to be very tight and professional; fortunately for me the great record label called "American Line Productions" released their album in the year 2002, their live show was so great that I had to ask the label Director (Joel Morales) for this promo?"State Of Agression" arrived a couple of weeks ago, and well here's the final result.

Baal improved enormously throughout the years, this album was released 3 years ago and in the present day "Baal" manages to sound even tighter and more polished. "State Of Aggression" is a really interesting album to the core, the production is muddy and really dirty, so that's a turn-off, but minding only the music this album fits perfectly in the Melodic Death Metal definition, catchy riffing, crazy drum-beats, melodious chords, and shrieked vocalizations. All of this played in a really decent way, what I mean is, you won't find shitty "In Flames" music here, this is actually how Melodic Death supposes to sound.

Anyway, the biggest highlight here is the incredible musicianship, the drummer is crazy as fuck; he adds a lot of rare beats in the songs and manages to break the mood several times with unorthodox methods. The guitarist is really impressive as well, yes he uses power-chords a lot, but who doesn't in this genre, the good thing is that he adds a lot of melodies in the songs without abusing the clean guitars, the guitar solos are not really complex but hell that guy makes them sound really multifaceted and layered, so those points really astounded me while listening to this CD.

This band really deserves attention; I'm sure in the near future this guys will release an astonishing CD, I really think "Baal" can do better than "State of Aggression", even though this album is really good they will be able to release a true masterpiece someday?I guess we all have to wait for a couple of years.

Best Tracks: "Metal Legions", "Warcall", "The Shining".