Baroness have posted on-line a video of John Baizley and Pete Adams playing an acoustic rendition of 'Stretchmarker'. The clip, recorded in Baizley's Philadelphia art studio, shows that the band are making progress and jamming together again following their terrible bus crash in August. Read Baizely’s full statement here. 

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Baroness last album, the blue one, was as close to perfect as sludgemetal will ever get, so the pressure is on to see if John Baizley and co. can deliver again. Of course they can, not only this highly anticipated new record eclipses the enthralling majesty of “Blue Record”, it’s also heading straight towards the top of the year-end charts. To rise to the challenge, this time they’re doing a few things differently, their music is still richly textured and intricate, blending influences of straight-up sludge, 70’s rock and prog, yet it’s perfectly clear on the very first listening that “Yellow & Green” takes a couple of interesting turns towards a more streamlined and shall I say mainstream rock genre.
The songs have more space to breathe resulting on some of most memorable pieces Baroness have ever created. Pieces such as “Takes My Bones Away”, which is surely one of the catchiest sing-along tune of this summer. Another noticeable change lies in the vocalizations Baroness frontman. Gone are the howls and growls of Baizley, instead the singer now focus on a clean and soulful performance that will surely put all the singing members of Kylesa and Mastodon to shame. I mean, this guy can truly sing.

People can yammer away all they want about the differences between this new effort and previous ones and how Baroness are slowly moving towards a more commercial sound, but who cares? This is still Baroness and they’ve penned one the year’s best albums regardless of what style or genre it fits in. (9/10)

David Alexandre 

Band info: www.baronessmusic.com 

Label info: www.relapse.com
 

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Following up a classic and highly praised debut like ‘Red Album’ can be a daunting task, but damn, not only Savannah’s Baroness have pulled it off they’ve also written an album that’s greater in scope and tops everything the band has done before. With ‘Blue Record’, the four-piece have made a striking, heavily layered and more accessible record without loosing any of their gritty edge. The superbly brisk guitars continue to serve as the backbone for all of the band's compositions, with dozens of sublimely infectious licks that rivals Mastodon’s ‘Crack the Skye’ in terms of bombast and sheer might. The comparisons with their fellow statesman aren’t new and even though Baroness always had their own sonority from the very beginning, they share some of the most appealing traits of former label mates. Both have a special knack for blending epic and infectious melodies with a sludgy crustiness and psychedelic-prog nuances as evidenced on ‘Jake Leg’, ‘Swollen and Halo’ and ‘A Horse Called Golgotha’, all encompassing a classic metal gallop, a beastly propulsive percussion, nimble and meaty riffs, twin lead guitars that exude a NWOBHM feel and robust vocalizations. ‘War, Wisdom and Rhyme’ delves into the same aural landscapes of ‘Red Album’, with powerful and monolithic riffs coupled with John Baizley's raucous vocals, while ‘O'er Hell and Hide’ sees Baroness stepping into a fierce and odd progressive-tinged atmosphere with spoken word verses.
‘Blue Record’ isn’t all blitz and fury, however, as Baroness expand on the swirling Southern bluesy-psychedelics that were already audible on their previous work, adding various instrumentals like the lethargic ‘Ogeechee Hymnal’ and the folk-flavoured ‘Blackpowder Orchard’, and several other nuances to the songs. Take ‘Steel That Sleeps The Eye’ for example, in which Baroness trade in their powerful and thunderous rhythms for trippy and gentle acoustic chords and clean-vocal harmonies submerging the listeners in slow-moving dirge that serves as introduction to one of the best numbers of the whole album, ‘Swollen and Halo’.
Oozing a classy and soulful production courtesy indie producer John Congleton, ‘Blue Record’ is an epic and intelligent album that varies greatly in terms of mood and texture from song to song, and even within the same song, yet it should be listened in the context of the whole album for a better listening experience. An absolutely mandatory release! (8.5/10)

David Alexandre

Band info: www.myspace.com/yourbaroness
Label info: www.relapse.com
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