9.7/100
Written by: T.Paine
So, how about metal, huh? Remember how cool it was when you were a socially awkward kid and Korn was your gateway to the world? And then how you grew out of it the first time you heard a Pavement/Neutral Milk Hotel/Replacements record? And how now that the ‘fork is giving Mastodon albums 9/10, it’s cool to be into metal again? Well, my singer told me about the new Baroness album, titled “Blue Record,” and after spending 14 of my hard earned dollars, I will say that I am completely and utterly blown away.
Baroness is quietly becoming one of those new wave “transcendent” metal bands, ones that may not be mainstream accessible, but still seem to have an ever growing fan base. “The Sweetest Curse” establishes a kind of sludgy atmosphere, which only enhances the blazing lead guitar parts, and “Jake Leg” may be one of the coolest jams I’ve heard in a long time. In terms of marketability, it may not be a great single, but it’s like watching LeBron James dunk a basketball. Cool beyond belief. Baroness can also mix it up a bit. The acoustic song “Steel That Sleeps the Eye” has some great noise effects in the background, turning a potential mood killing acoustic song into a dirge-y distortion fest that even had trace amounts of Pink Floyd pop up now and again.
This album was pretty much made for you to listen to in your headphones and take off into a different world. I would imagine that when the band Sleep mentioned the “riff-filled land” in their classic doom metal piece “Dopesmoker”, they were referring to Baroness, because the riffs up and down this album make me feel like just giving up on life and being a full time metal-head. The bass tone on “Swollen and Halo” made me feel like I got punched in the gut, and the first minute of the next song, “Ogeechee Hymnal” is what makes people like music in general. Seriously, Im trying not to mention every song, but they all have something rad about them. Like how “A Horse Called Golgotha” sounds like metal-head fan fiction where Joe Satriani plays guitar for Mastodon, and how “O’er Hell and Hide” reminds me of the Swedish seminal hardcore band Refused with its versatility.
The problem with writing a review for an album like this is there is nothing bad about it at all. I love it, you will love it, it is a lock for my top five at the end of the year and there is no way you won’t feel the same way. Fans of bands from The Appleseed Cast to Anal Cunt rejoice! Metal is cool once again!
