ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES
Having rarely appreciated the finer points of Gothic "jangly guitar" bands, I never bothered to take much notice of BALAAM AND THE ANGEL. So, when they parted company from Virgin Records last year, I thought nothing of it. Shame on my ignorance, 'cos when I heard "Shame On You," Balaam's new single from the recently released six tracker No More Innocence on "The Friday Rock Show" my ears started burning. Intense, heavy, and incisive - it was an education indeed. Time to lose my innocence methinks. In Bedford! Hardly a place of rock n' roll Nirvana, it has to be said. In fact, Esquire's, the town's sole rock venue is little more than an outsized lounge bar with a stage at one end and a dressing room of broom cupboard proportions. But who's complaining when the promoters provide humongous amounts of home cooked chilli con carne? Not me or the band, as Mark Morris (bass/ vocals) and I play musical chairs, and Ian McKean (guitar) keeps his corner seat. Balaam are on the 6th date for their first UK tour in over a year and chaos reigns.
In search of peace and quiet we escaped to a local pub. Though Bedford may be short of live music facilities, it certainly has no lack of ale houses. So, alcoholic lubricants to hand, Mark, Ian, and I finally settled down to talk into my tape machine.
With heavy metal often regarded as being a subject for ridicule, I ask why Balaam decided to make the transition into that style?
Mark begins:
"Well, obviously we started off kind of more psychedelic. But when we did the Live Free or Die album, we thought we were making a statement by getting heavier. But because we were still wrapped up in the alternative scene, I think what we were seeing as heavy probably wasn't really that heavy. But the more we toured America and the more we wanted to get our reaction from the audience, the louder we got."
"I joined the group about four years ago," adds Ian, "and I toured on the Live Free or Die album, which they'd recorded a few months before. And that's actually quite a heavy album. It's real weird that people have been asking us why we've gone really heavy all of a sudden. We are heavier than we were, but we were pretty heavy four years ago so it just goes to prove that, the way that we were promoted, basically not many people heard the group."
Have you seen any changes in the composition of your audiences over the years?
"You can't decide what sort of audience you're gonna have," continues Ian. "We still get a lot of crossover kids and goths, and it's not like we've turned round and said we're not goth any more. There's always going to be a mixture, and I think there is actually a bit of a gap in the market. A lot of people seem to perceive rock as being either thrash, or the MAIDEN thing, or as being real "poodle LA," and there's nothing else left of field of that. But there is a loss of people searching for something different."
"Yeah," agrees Mark. "One thing I'm sick of hearing is funk rock, and I think what gets on my wick even more than that is heavy metal funk bands with a punk rock attitude. Especially when they are from America, 'cos I don't actually think they know what it is. I think that's where the gap is for British bands to dominate the scene again, because it's only British bands that truly understand punk. To actually reflect your environment has a lot more relevance."
Is that what Balaam sets out to do?
Mark again:
"I don't think we've got a lot of choice. On the new record a couple of songs sound like we're pissed off, which we are, and some of it's quite optimistic. They are quite agro, some of our songs. But that's what our lives been like for the last couple of years. It's been one battle after another."
Ian:
"I think the best thing about it is that it spawned our most creative music. The album was recorded in nine days, and I think it's the best thing we've ever done," claims a suitably confident guitarist."
"We did waste three days in one studio as well," interrupts Mark, "and then left and started in another studio again."
"Yeah," Ian continues. "We specially chose this studio because it's got a brilliant live ambient room. But the guy put all the ambient mics on and didn't record them and he'd close mic'd the drums, so it sounded really dry and really small. So we abandoned that really quick and booked ourselves into Curtis Schwartz Studios. But it just goes to show that you don't need humongous budgets to make great records."
"What we plan on doing next is taking the EP to America to see who wants to release it. They'll want it extended into a full album, so we'll have to record another four or five tracks and get it into full album mode," Mark concludes.
As with the EP, this current tour does seem to be on a small budget - with yourselves holding the reins. is that right?
"We've seen the whole thing down the line," Ian informs me, "from doing the record on an indie label. You're in control of everything from there on down, and I think the more you're in control the better, really."
"Rock and roll isn't about being a spoilt, pampered brat and I'd say about 70% of groups are like that," claims Mark. "We just have the essential people on the road, we tell people what to do, we make the decisions, we order the merchandise, and then the buck stops at us. Then if anything goes wrong, we have only ourselves to blame. It takes away that element of doubt and things have never run better."
Two hours later the quartet take to the Esquires' stage in front of a sweating sardine-tin audience. The venue is seething with black clad goth rockers, many sporting MISSION or NEPHELIM T-shirts. Whilst a large proportion go predictably ape no matter what Balaam do, some are obviously nonplussed by the band's rough and raucous heavy metal approach. These days Balaam owe more to the power and attack off THE ALMIGHTY than perhaps their long term fans expect.
"Running Out of Time" and "The Wave" are the most potent reminders of Balaam's Gothic past. However, "Did You Fall..." and "Live Free or Die" both shatter my preconceptions by adapting admirably to the metal-orientated blast the band deliver these days. As a newcomer to the fold, I'm impressed, though whether They remain in relative "cultdom" or expand to encompass the wider market they're aiming for remains to be seen. Whatever does transpire, Balaam are taking all the risks this time around, and I for one would like to see them succeed.
Lyn Guy
Riff Raff
January 1992
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