“Baloi succeeds on every level and preserves the originality that keeps Skinflint’s music fresh”
Since emerging from Gaborone, Botswana, in the mid-2000s, few bands anywhere in the world can boast a discography as substantial as the one this trio has built. On Baloi, their eighth full-length release, Skinflint double down on everything that makes them distinctive and deliver their most visceral and uncompromising record to date.
Skinflint stick to their guns, forging a majestic sonic landscape drawn from the oral traditions, dark mysticism and folklore of their Southern African homeland. Baloi is the Setswana word for witches, and the band could hardly be more direct. As the title suggests, the record earns its name, with Skinflint conjuring an unsettling and insidious sound possessed by a malevolent force from the arid heartlands of Botswana.
From the opening track, “Ritual War”, Baloi wastes no time. The record grabs you by the neck as the song begins with a blood-curdling scream, just before Giuseppe Sbrana’s gritty guitars strike with full force.
Throughout Baloi, Skinflint maintain their classic bone-dry tone and a clean heavy metal essence reminiscent of Motörhead, though never in a derivative way. In a previous interview, frontman Giuseppe Sbrana discussed the making of the record, explaining that it was written and recorded quickly and spontaneously. Listening to the album, it is difficult not to admire the raw but tight production the trio captured in the studio.
This DIY approach proves to be one of Baloi‘s greatest strengths. The guitar tone has a perfectly dry bite, the drums carry a warm live-room thud, Kebonye’s basslines gallop brilliantly throughout the record, and Sbrana’s vocals cut through the mix in a way that excessive studio polish could never manufacture.
Baloi maintains an unrelenting aggression throughout its 42-minute running time, with each song introducing a distinctive element that reveals abilities extending beyond the trio’s instrumentation.
“Lentswe La Baratani” feels like the record’s emotional and creative apex. Running for more than eight minutes, it draws inspiration from the local legend of Lovers’ Hill. The track earns its length as the trio settle into an uptempo groove that twists and meanders, driven by Sbrana’s classic gritty riffs, which give way to soaring solos and vocals recounting an epic tale of star-crossed lovers.
Another track that deserves mention is “Kishi”, which tells the story of a two-faced man and a hyena-like creature from African folklore, also depicted on the album cover. It begins with menacing animalistic wails and growls before lurching forward with intensity. Kebonye’s bass and Modisaemang’s drums provide the perfect foundation for Sbrana’s vocals and piercing guitar solos.
The middle and final sections of the record maintain a ferocity that Skinflint seem to summon effortlessly. “The Beasts Beneath the Rocks” moves with an engaging gallop before the album reaches its closing sequence with “Sangoma” and “Sangoma Blood Magic”.
The final two tracks explore witchcraft and the darker practices associated with sangomas, as Sbrana explained in a previous interview. This reflects another quality Skinflint have carried throughout their career: a clear intellectual and cultural purpose. The band continue to tell stories from Botswana and across Africa, particularly the darker and more sinister folklore that is rarely covered properly.
Ultimately, Baloi succeeds on every level and preserves the originality that keeps Skinflint’s music fresh, especially within a genre that can easily become creatively exhausted or derivative.
With Baloi, Skinflint continue to carry the torch for African heavy metal from the front, drawing deeply from African culture while retaining the ferocity that has long defined their records. The album reinforces their place among the finest bands in African metal.
