“I might use my eyelids as a shield against her light.”
When you grow up alongside a long-running band, it takes two realisations: first, that they’re maturing with you, and second, that they’ve always had a head-start on you that you’ll never catch up. Baroness are that band for me, a few strides ahead of me into musical adulthood, each release bringing wisdom that I’ve yet to grasp. Having been pivotal in late 00s sludge metal (a huge time for the genre) with their albums Red and Blue, fans have been reticent to let them spread their wings beyond this. Baroness have duly ignored this, and the more defining portions of their career have happened since, starting with Yellow & Green which stepped back from metal to explore the psychedelic. Purple saw them double down on the pop hooks without forgetting their roots. After a big gap, Gold & Grey was met with confusion as the songwriting simply wasn’t as memorable. Many fingers were pointed at the messy mixing job, but equally, many listeners weren’t going to be happy until they sounded exactly like Mastodon again. It’s a record that’s aged quite well once you accept its quirks.
A lot has changed since 2019 in so many ways; now in 2023 we have the next Baroness album. Stone can be summarised as a proggy turn, an album that downplays the pop heard on Yellow & Green and Purple.Songs navigate where they please with natural flow rather than immediate memorability. In many ways, this makes it a sequel to Gold & Grey which was full of little ideas and odd tracks. First single “Last Word” certainly gave this impression, being a bit too similar to “Borderlines” down to its outro jam. However, this time we can revel in a solid mix. The bass sounds thick and tasty, guitar duets in full clarity, and a drum mix that feels live. John Baizley’s clean vocals are string and characterful, and extra vocal takes are no longer buried in the mix. The tasteful and face-melting Thin Lizzy solo during “Last Word”’s middle section comes from Gina Gleason. Another single, and my favourite Stone track, was “Beneath the Rose”, a fascinating track that unites all of Baroness’ eras: sludge for its verses with their classic licks, and a banger of a chorus, plus a dual guitar solo. The final outro is a vocal passage that doesn’t reprise the chorus a third time, ending the song on a high.
Following this, a three song run begins that shows off Baroness’ weird side. “Beneath the Rose” brilliantly merges into “Choir”, the album’s first true oddity that comes straight from the jam room. It’s driven by a deranged poem that is quite magnetic. It’s a track that surely only makes sense within the general flow of the record. “The Dirge” is the subsequent melodic break that continues this trend. “Anodyne” can’t decide where it wants to be, between soulful lyrics and grimacing riffs. It ends up just being confused and of little significance, even in the sense of the record’s overall flow.
Side two more properly begins with “Shine”, the first of three long and dynamic tracks. The heaviest of the three, “Shine” peaks with a chorus in permanent drum-fill mode. “Magnolia” starts extremely gently with birdsong and guitar harmonics, quickly giving the sensation that the record’s emotional centrepiece has come. When John Baizley’s soulful cleans ring out over the subsequent riffs, it’s the most ‘classic’ Baroness moment on the record so far. The ending syncopates vocals over fuzzed out guitars, fading into mist. As it’s not banking on hooks, it’s likely to take you several listens to appreciate it in full.
Similarly, “Under the Wheel” avoids internal repetition and wheezes along like a slow come-down. Amidst these songs I was yearning for a moment that felt more sudden and surprising to juxtapose all these slow transitions. “Bloom” is the album’s melodic conclusion, an understated, drumless ballad that somehow ended up as a single (perhaps out of lack of other options, due to the proggy nature of Stone).
It’s been almost 20 years since their first EP, and it’s natural that much has had to change in that time. Stone is a refusal from Baroness to submit to the many voices trying to drag them back to their roots. The classic elements remain: you’ll hear sludge licks and a few catchy moments on this album, and they did choose a much “safer” approach to production this time. Fundamentally, Baroness are happier being a psychedelic rock band that can navigate into sludge metal when they need to, typically bringing heaviness in other ways. Personally, I see Stone as solid addition to the Baroness’ story, but it doesn’t challenge their greatest moments. As I mature, I hope to feel different, as it surely contains more wisdom that I’ve yet to gain.
6.5/10
Stone releases through the label Abraxan Hymns on the 15th September and can be pre-ordered here.