When creativity and musical expression meet with an intentional, imaginative and honest sense of story and reason – when a passion for music meets with a longstanding curiosity and sense of wonder. The result is a sound that fearlessly unites genres, and consistently follows a pathway of sentimental narrative – taking listeners through a meandering, intimate to chaotic audio journey, that’s ultimately both entertaining and illuminating.
Introducing Ba Theory – an iconic indie project, formed in 2023, by an ensemble of artists whose organic talent and devotion to the process shines both brightly and fiercely, throughout their sensational and unconfined debut album Ikkyu.
To briefly outline the concept, Ba Theory bring together the artform of metal and the spirituality of Buddhism. It’s a boldly unique and, as far as I’m aware, completely new fusion of worlds, and the result is impassively artistic, energising, and interesting.
Click through to the Ba Theory Website to read the full backstory for Ikkyu, but in short – a Buddhist monk from Japan sets out on a seemingly endless search for perfect stillness and peace. He eventually encounters an old hermit in a dark and cramped cave, an extraordinary being, and requests the secret to the permanent silence of his mental faculties. The hermit laughs, and replies that he has never had a silent mind, not in over 100 years. He instructs the monk to then listen carefully, as he reveals what goes on inside his mind, each and every day. What resounds through the space at this moment, is the music of Ba Theory.
Mastered by Brian Lucey, the sheer quality of the recording and finish throughout Ikkyu makes certain to deliver a fully immersive audio experience. Despite the versatility from one track to the next, from the acoustic soul sway of Indigo Moon, through the explosive peaks of Superparticular!, the music consumes its listener in a cinematic and engaging fashion. The concept is kept as a defiant focus, but the creativity, performative charm and emotion supporting it, lets the 11 original tracks of Ikkyu rain down with passion and purpose.
We then get a heavy moment of anthemic and rather catchy intrigue, for Dither, and after this, the sheer passionate outcry and intensity of Yama is unignorable. The band quite seamlessly capture the contrast between gritty and unsettling vocals and metal instrumentation, and the softer melodic sway and groove of music that soothes you. It’s a fascinating alternative style, and the riffs, rhythms, vocals and this whole theatrical, unpredictable but satisfying structuring, makes for a captivating journey.
Pure Land is completely unexpected as ever, something like surf rock, with quirky warped riffs and beachside bends, a whispered vocal of personal longing and lostness, rising into an explosive soul-rock anthem that lifts you up in unison with its growing energy.
By now the style of the music has entertained and compelled us to tune in closely, but the lyrics have been perhaps second in line. Indigo Moon set the foundation beautifully, but the intensity of what followed let the mind wander. At this point, however, the band reground us in the sentiments of what inspired the music, and therein, whenever we replay these songs, some new idea pierces through the weight of each arrangement. What’s more, the leading voice is unmistakable, and that quality, that character – this depth of tone and the natural gravel and rasp – becomes something of a loyal guide and a comfort, and that makes a huge difference.
Kanzeon!!! celebrates that vocal quality well, and the backing vocals and rhythmic progression all make this a calming and almost Mongolian throat-singing kind of world-music highlight from the whole album. It’s addictive, alternative but catchy, entertaining – fun – and totally enthralling.
Contrast always matters, and Ba Theory have that down to a tee. Summoning Yamantaka emerges at just the right moment, a canned introduction paving the way towards a progressive metal intensity that’s strangely both heavy and infectiously melodic. We get a call and response chant or rap almost, and again the lyrics draw us back towards the profound ideas of the story.
Backing the value of contrast again, we suddenly move into the intimate and dreamy layers of a stripped-back title-track Ikkyu, a revealing and rather vulnerable moment, with an uplifting final third that’s beautifully and boldly original, yet satisfying as ever.
Then to bring back the cinematic, theatrical styling and performative charm, the conviction of Vision – the delivery and the slow but striking evolution of the soundscape – makes for another gripping highlight. The track is both eerie and electrifying, a strong studio capture and a hopeful indication of a supreme live song to be witnessed, and it begs for you to listen more than once.
Tribal acoustic calm lets the mind settle and wander once more, for the perfectly placed contemplation and atmospheric detail of Han – a meditative composition, which helps remind us of the intricate detail and intentional design of all thing Ba Theory. It’s not just the voice and the story, it’s the musicality, the production, the depth of the ambiance.
Then to finish, we return to the soft flow of energy and melody that started things off, with the gorgeous fire-side folk and imagery of a rather divine Acorn. A gentle yet ultimately sublime closing moment, Acorn appears to conclude this journey with quiet wonder, appreciation, and optimism. It’s a humble highlight, and an unusual but essentially fitting way to wrap up this explosively creative audio venture.
On the surface, this might seem like an arbitrary or unlikely pairing between metal and Buddhism. However, I dare to promise that the creativity and musical appeal of this project transcends both genre and topic. This isn’t simply a metal band, nor a haphazard approach on a concept album – it’s a rather sensational, entertaining, fearlessly impassioned array of original songs, each of which quite cleverly blends alternative and mainstream traits of music making. What ensues, in short, is an extended dose of escapism, that’s both refreshingly awakening, and impressively unforgettable.
Album Out October 31st. Find Ba Theory on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Spotify & their Website.
