Savannah heavy metal royalty Baroness build upon a strong foundation with new album
One of the first professional articles I ever wrote was an interview with Savannah metal titans Baroness back in 2007 for a now defunct local arts and entertainment magazine. The band had just been signed to Relapse Records and were on the cusp of releasing their debut album, Red. Now that Baroness have released their sixth studio album, Stone, on their own Abraxan Hymns label, it seems much of what I wrote about the band 16 years ago still holds true today.
“Their music (an exhilarating blend of punk, metal and hardcore, as well as prog and psychedelic rock) is a contrast of rawness and technicality that’s heavy and rousing, elemental and cosmic,” I wrote then. Baroness have matured as artists, and have added new “hues” to their music, but the fundamentals that made them such a beloved band remain intact.
Baroness formed in 2003 and seemed to spring out of the Savannah sludge scene fully formed with an already legendary status established by triumphant early live shows and two universally praised EPs. Red, produced by Kylesa’s Phillip Cope, was named Album of the Year by Revolver magazine. Their second album, Blue, was named the 20th Greatest Metal Album in History by L.A. Weekly. And their fourth album, Purple, was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2017.
Alongside their peers, Kylesa and Black Tusk, Baroness helped put Savannah's brand of humid Southern sludge metal on the global music map.
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Baroness takes 'back-to-basics' approach on new album, 'Stone'
Still led by founding member John Baizley (guitar and vocals), Baroness have undergone several line-up changes, a devastating tour bus crash in 2012, and a relocation to Philadelphia. It’s been several album cycles since Baroness lived in Savannah, but for many fans they will always hold significant relevance when it comes to our local music history. They’re still a Savannah band to me.
Baroness ended their chromatically-themed five album cycle with 2019’s epic double-LP Gold and Grey. Stone is leaner and meaner than Gold and Grey, but no less dynamic and conceptual. There has always been something earthy, primal, and elemental about Baroness. It wasn’t just the music that left that impression. Baizley’s album cover art featuring vivid, richly detailed Art Nouveau nymphs, goddesses, bones, fish, flowers, animals, and other fantastic natural imagery, go far to convey the scope of Baroness’ music.
Stone, thematically, is about the comfort of home and death. The title could be referring to the stable foundation of a house and family, or is could be the last words on a tombstone. It also refers to the solidity of the band’s current line-up which includes Gina Gleason (lead guitar/ background vocals), Nick Jost (bass), Sebastian Thomson (drums).
“This record started off the loosest conceptually,” said Baizley in a press release. “It ended up feeling like it was different chapters in a short story…So, this album is sort of a reflection of my life. I’ve had some tough years, and I think I’ve found some semblance of calm now. I think I found that walking through Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia. Sure, there’s death, but there’s memory, too. I found that almost peaceful.”
Baroness took a back-to-basics approach for Stone, self-producing and recording the album at a make-shift home studio in a rented cabin.The songwriting was a full-band effort and each member shines through in the production and mix. The drums are pummeling, the bass is fat and heavy, the dual guitars are alternately sludgy, crunchy, thrashy, and progressive, and the vocals are dynamic and emotive. Fans will be happy to hear Gleasons’ complimentary background vocals pushed forward in the mix where they can stand next to Baizley.
Opening track, “Ember,” begins with the cacophony of crowd noise before it drifts away on a gentle acoustic guitar melody and birdsong.Baizley moved to Savannah from Lexington, Virginia, so maybe the Appalachian Mountains never fully left his bones. There is often an influence of campfire mountain music in Baroness’ acoustic passages.
“Last Word” blasts off on heavy thrash riffs, and Gina Gleason’s vocal harmonies resonate perfectly with Baizley’s earnest bellow on the chorus. Lyrics about remembered last words establish some of the themes of the album.
“Beneath The Rose” is the first part of a trilogy of songs. Baizley sings in a snarling Sprechgesang over desert rock riffs.The song leaps into a soaring chorus with bright acoustic strums, then a Thin Lizzy-style harmonized dual guitar solo, which has been Baroness’ bread and butter since their inception.
“Beneath the Rose” transitions seamlessly into “Choir” which has Baizley delivering his lyrics in a deeply menacing fire-and-brimstone tone, all over a pulsing, driving synth rhythm. It’s Baroness’ weirdest and scariest song to date.
The final part of the triptych is “The Dirge” which offers an acoustic reprieve to the darkness of the previous songs with sweet vocal harmonies and a subtle drone humming in the background. Of course, it’s still about death: “I know my breath is failing, now my time is up.”
“Anodyne” sounds much like early Baroness, with low-end sludgy guitars and Baizley’s vocals delivered with rugged sincerity.
“Shine” begins with spacey synthesizers, Pink Floyd-ian acoustic guitars, and chiming glockenspiels. I could do with Baroness indulging their prog side more. When the heavy rock guitars kick in, “Shine” becomes one of the most epic and emotional songs on the album with images of roaring oceans, shooting stars, soaring too close to the sun, and the veil of eternal darkness.
(Throughout the whole album there is similarly epic poetic imagery in the lyrics, and I can’t help but feel like there was a missed opportunity for Baroness to continue the chromatic album titles theme by calling this one Copper and Silver, words that appear in songs at one point or another.)
“Magnolia,” is another emotional rock number that continues a three-song run of heavy hitters. The title suggests that even though Baroness live in Philadelphia, they’re still a southern band at heart.
“Under the Wheel” begins with a haunting cello before shifting into a snaky mid-tempo groove and then building up to crunchy guitar riffs and an emotional climax.
The album closer, “Bloom,” is another gently psychedelic acoustic song that calls back to “Ember’s” plea for a home: “Build me a home of hammers and rain, leave me a simple life/ Home, where we go, to bury the blood and stone.” The album’s outrois a trippy, hauntological waltz that evokes memories and the sense of passing away.
“Time and time again, I'm not interested in having a bunch of songs that all feel the same, I want everything to feel different,” said Baizley of recording Stone. “I want to see how diverse we are as musicians, and I want to see how fluid we can become using music as the language that we choose to communicate.”
Despite Baizley’s continuous search for new directions, Baroness remain the driven force of nature they were when they first came up in Savannah.
Baroness are embarking on a tour beginning Oct. 13, but unfortunately won’t be making a stop in Savannah. Maybe when The Jinx finally re-opens Baroness can be coaxed into returning to their birthplace for a long overdue homecoming gig.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah heavy metal royalty Baroness release new album 'Stone'
