Baroness – Stone

 

 

Baroness – Stone
Abraxan Hymns – 2023
Rock, Metal, Stoner, Prog, Alternative, Sludge
Rated: *****

Every Baroness fan will immediately know this album is here to break away from what has come before. The first album with the exact same line-up as the one that came before. And the album title is a dead give away of course. Stone. No more colors. They are here to cast the first stone, to cause ripples and to show all of us that Baroness is back, different, the same and absolutely smashing. Where opener Embers might still give off a momentary breath of air and a glance back at the album that came before, the band jumps on top of you with the second track Last Word. Pummeling and relentless, the chugging, the building, the climbing and those two vocal lines expertly weaving around each other. Tight, snappy and incredibly direct, the riffs tumble over one another to exhume sheer power and thrust. Just listen to Beneath The Rose, where you can hear grand beard John Dyer Baizley’s declamation over powerful thrashy metal and hear his emotive howling whenever the melody is allowed to take over. Imposing and grandiose are very limited words listening to that track. Much of the album feels like a seismic shift, and earthquake rocking, metallic shocking of the senses. As if the band wanted to recall that prog and sludge from before, while moving towards a highly formidable metal future. And then there are those momentary ballsy hardrock influences and something that is surely meant for the biggest of stages or darkest of pits. But you also have The Dirge, cutting that ominous and evil sounding Choir off and the album in two, with its pastoral Americana folk, a moment of respite in the assault perhaps, but not one that will put your mind at ease. Plus, Anodyne follows and cuts through the air and your thoughts like a machine, the siren making sure you will be on full alert. Which is a good thing, cause Stone deserves every bit of your attention. They did not throw perfect piece of rock into the pond for nothing. Baroness is back, and as good as they ever were!

(Written by JK)

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Baroness – Gold & Grey

Baroness – Gold & Grey

Spinefarm/Abraxan Hymns – 2019

Rock

Rated: ***

We continue along the kaleidoscopic Baroness journey that begun so many years ago with that magical Red album. Apparently the new Gold & Grey album was supposed to be called Orange, but he wasn’t feeling that color. And yes, Gold & Grey does alliterate nicely, so I guess we can agree with the decision. And shit, we have no say in that matter anyway… We were already jotting down these few lines about the new Baroness record when Madman Tony Maim sent in his screed about Gold & Grey and we of course stopped writing immediately, cause why do another mention about the same album. There is so much other great music out there and so little time. But even though I agree with his rant, I missed something. Something I felt needed to be said. Gold & Grey feels like a continuation from Yellow & Green. Where the experimental side was perhaps bigger but the amount of different approaches to the tracks smaller. Influences are still too many to name and the dynamics are even grander. We even get an acoustic treatment and female vocals in the form of new guitarist Gina Gleason. And the feeling we are listening to one big work of art is even more present due to all the bridges and themes connection the songs. But it still could not grab me initially, it took some time, and the reason behind that fact, I fear, was the way the mix and production feels. And that feeling has not left me, even though the album has become a favorite, a record one can spin at all kinds of different moments, there is something amiss with the mix. The tracks and compositions have this fragile edge to it, while the mix goes through the ceiling in loudness and fullness, leaving no room for the instruments to move or the compositions to breathe. It is a strange feeling to listen to an album and wanting to love it so much but feel like it is a lot of work to do so. I would give a lot for a new version of this record, but shit, we have no say in that matter…

(Written by JK)

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Baroness – Gold & Grey

Baroness – Gold & Grey

Abraxan Hymns – 2019

Rock, Metal, Prog Stoner

Rated: ****

Once upon a time in the magical Kingdom of Heavy, there was a band called Baroness. After some EPs, the band released the “Blue” and “Red” albums and all the subjects of the kingdom celebrated with much joy and drinks and drugs because the two albums were declared masterpieces and the band were the best in the world. All was good in the Kingdom of Heavy. Then the band released “Yellow & Green” and “Purple” and a lot of the subjects cursed the band because these new albums were not the same as “Red” and “Blue” and in the Kingdom of Heavy the subjects became sad and cursed Baroness for changing and not staying the same for years and years. So all the subjects waited to see what the new album “Gold & Grey” would sound like. And up in the Dark Tower, the brave reviewers who listen to piles and piles of shit so you don’t have to, shouted down to the waiting subjects and declared “Some of you saps will hate it, some will love it. It is like none of the albums mentioned but a glorious mixture of all of them, showcasing the song writing skills of a band secure in their own abilities, still heavy, still displaying light and shade and still awesome”

How did the subjects of Kingdom of Heavy react to this news? Who gives a shit!

(Written by Tony Maim)

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