Blue Record - Baroness

If you don't know who Baroness is at this point, you really must not be listening. Think Mastodon with a heavier country/blues vibe and vocals more mongrel, less shedding but more instrumentalism, then add a dash of shoegaze rage, and you've got the right mix for a band that's as unclassifiable and incomparable as the mighty Mastodon. Baroness write powerful, raw music with an undeniable sense of justice. It’s no surprise that their latest release, while significantly different, manages to live up to the hype magazines like Revolver helped establish by giving them record of the year for Red Album in 2007. Check out the video for Wanderlust from that one.

All that said, despite the tremendous amount of buzz this record is getting, I have to admit that it wasn't a win at first listen. Their focus this time around was to write more melodically and somewhat prettier in order to shrug off comparisons with Mastodon, and in this regard I believe they're successful, but honestly, they never needed to fight it. Neither will ever write the other's songs, and Blue Record is no Crack The Skye, as Blood Mountain is no Red Album. I missed the sonic experimentation off that earlier release and find that, while their blending of acoustic interludes among others maintain the sense of something epic, overall, their new spin detracts some from the power of their instrumentalism. And although vocalist John Baizely is certainly a unique screamer, he's not as phenomenal as a singer as he is expressive. The result is a sort of tuneful chanting that nonetheless compliments his minimalist lyrics and fantastic song titles, so I have to say that it did feel as if the band was quite happy to be making a record such as this. It has a natural touch to it.

Baizley also happens to be, in case you didn't know, the guy behind the great cover artwork for Pig Destroyer's Phantom Limb and Darkest Hour's Deliver Us, and of course the artwork for Blue Record features his signature provocative style. Check it:

Clearly he has a great appreciation for madames au naturelle. Like this piece, Blue Record is a beautiful work worth your eye and ear.