Baroness the Blue Record

An impressive sophomore album from this young band from Georgia. The songwriting and sequencing of songs on this album craft a unique and invigorating metal album. I would like to use the newer buzz phrase "Southern metal" but the band prefers to distance themselves from that moniker. The album is uniquely american. The arrangements, solos, and sequencing reflect an appreciation for blues and seventies progressive rock sound. Tracks on the album do sound metal to the nonmetal listener but the overall vibe of the album is more progessive hard rock than heavy metal. That puts Baroness in the same sonic niche as most bands played on radio, but Baroness is far and away better.

Why are they better? Songwriting. All of the songs have hooks and are easy to listen to, but the hooks are not predictable pop hooks heard on the radio. The comparison I can make to preexisting albums would be to compare this to Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream. That album and this one have a sonic cohesiveness that is a rare treasure to behold. Baroness' album is not at all a Pumpkins copycat. It is far from that. I only want to draw attention to the fact all the tracks are well written and flow into each other seamlessly creating a kaleidoscope of sound that delivers whether cranked to ten on sunny day in the car or listening on head phones looking out the window.

After the intro track the album unloads with two heavy hitters, The Sweetest Curse and Jake Leg. Both are big rollicking affairs doused with solos and roaring vocals (not screamed/yelled/growled, just load and manly). The hypnotic acoustics of Sleep that Sleeps the Eye follows and gently bleeds into Swollen and Halo. A track that actually shares the same chorus as its predecessor, a clever play that blurs the line between the different tracks. But Swollen and Halo is not a continuation, but an extended main coarse. The amplifiers and intensity return on Swollen as do mini jam sessions and melodic riffs throughout the vocal segments. Listen for the music and vocals to build crescendo style and crash into a wall of cymbal crashes before mellowing into a guitar solo. Damn, I could write all night about this song. The song finishes with two plus minutes of instrumental jamming before Ogeechee Hymnal continues the jam at a slowed pace for a minute. Ogeechee then slips into a feedback induced prelude introduction to the pounding A Horse Called Golgotha. The tempo of the drums keep this song anchored throughout the variety of melodic solos and riffage that propel the track.

O'er Hell and Hide begins with an acoustic harmony before dumping some amplified bass guitar on the listener, followed up again by melodic solos that propel the tempo before Baroness turn down a different road for the vocals. The lyrics are spoken in a cadence at intervals between the galloping riffs, solos, and jams. War. Wisdom and Rhyme begins with a minute of the rhythm section pounding away. The intensity ebbs and flows throughout the track. The vocals feature distortion and a layered background vocals echoing the lead singer. Blackpowder Orchard follows and serves to add to record's atmosphere with acoustic melodies and some electric feedback soloing. The Gnashing is the albums last full length song. The Gnashing plays from the great rock-n-roll song book, a long build intro before an amplified build-up then drums pounding and finally the vocals come in after three minutes. Bullhead's Lament anchors all of the albums variety of sounds and is the goodbye serenade that forces you to accept that this musical journey through the hills of Georgia will be ending soon.