Second

Meandering is something that is usually not considered an endearing activity, particularly when one is being subjected to it rather than merely engaging in it. But within a certain context, it can work on a musical level, depending largely on how proficient the band is at continuously developing ideas and not wandering off into overt randomness. This is essentially what Mastodon has had a tendency to put forward on their various albums, although they tend to compound things beyond necessity with overindulgence in technical showboating. But Baroness seems to be a bit more up to the task at making this approach to treading muddy water, as proven on their impressive EP debut “First”.

“Second”, as the name would suggest, ups the ante in all respects and downplays the band’s punk influences in favor of greater amounts of progressive wanderings. Perhaps the most obvious point of comparison amongst the small collection of other albums that get this heavily into swamping up 70s rock with muddy Southern influences is found in “Leviathan”, although unfortunately said album gets so far up its own ass with drum fills that that tiny bit of needed continuity to make this approach to songwriting work is utterly lost. But unlike the Brann Dailor of 2002-2007, Allen Blickle understands that the most important part of keeping a loosely knit rock format together is by simply keeping the beat once in a while.

In addition to the obviously longer songs and greater among of ambient instrumental sections amidst the slower and more Southern rock tinged shouting sections, there’s a good bit more riff exploration, perhaps going into nearly twice as many ideas as before. Of this 20 minute collection of extended jam sessions, “Son Of Sun” is the clear favorite as it really plays up the psychedelic elements that the band has begun exploring here, which were perhaps only unconsciously hinted at on “First”, and managed to bridge the gap between intense anger and quiet serenity without sounding schizophrenic. The technical aspects of this are definitely informed heavily by Rush, and actually surpasses most of what’s heard on “Leviathan” in terms ambitiousness.

Ultimately, finding preference between this EP and its predecessor largely hinges on one’s interest in epic jamming as opposed to aggression, as “Second” tends towards the former a lot more. It tends to come off as being slightly more rock-oriented than metallic, but this could be argued of a host of progressive bands either inside or outside of the sludge paradigm. It’s genuinely esoteric, albeit in a somewhat cryptic way at times, and is sure to tickle the ears of those who like intelligence along with their pissed off grunts and growls.

Originally submitted to (www.metal-observer.com) on January 16, 2011.

While this is only a 20-minute 3-song EP, Baroness still manage to stun me so many times, in so many ways it’s almost inconceivable. Baroness play a very unique brand of Sludge incorporating Thrash, Death, and even some Stoner Doom into their music with influences seeming to range from all over the spectrum of rock and metal. The clarity and production values on this release are amazing compared to the majority of the Sludge genre. The guitar work is amazing, with many different styles and melodies, constantly changing along with the odd time-signature changes. John and Tim pull off many great riffs and are constantly going off into their own separate directions and then coming right back and intertwining very catchy melodies and rhythms together only to then go and change up the time signature again and go their separate ways, yet they never sound sloppy or overly technical. Summer’s bass work is very tight and controlled, never sounding off-key. The bass easily keeps up with the weird time changes and compliments the guitars and drums very nicely throughout every song. The drums fit in perfect and don’t have any out of place beats at all, becoming fairly technical (for a sludge band) at times yet never getting too overpowering. Everyone except for Allen picks up vocal duties on this release, whether it’s only one person or all three in unison. The Vocals are very nice Growl/Yells similar to that of Mastodon or Isis (yet a little more Throaty and on the Death Metal side) that fit extremely well with the music and (although sparsely used) are timed impeccably as to not overpower the instrumentals.

“Red Sky” starts out with some southern tinged guitar playing, which is immediately joined by the rest of the band creating a very nice sludgy lead-in for the cd. After about a minute the vocals kick in, perfectly fitting the mood and really adding a lot of intensity. Almost half the entire cd’s lyrics are recited in these following 2 mins. (This track is by far the most vocally centered) At about 3:40 the string of vocals end and the guitars get really soft and quiet for a moment only to lead you into one of the more trashy parts of the cd and right back to a quiet somewhat atmospheric ending that leads right into track 2.

“Son of Sun” takes right off after where number one left off with slower quiet guitars and some excellent drum-work showing through a lot more now then on the rest of the cd. After this somewhat of a transition between songs it gets heavier and sludgier again until they’re pounding along with some amazing guitar-work with some sparse vocals once again kicking in and never ruining the sound. Now at about 3:30 almost all the intensity stops and the song suddenly switches into a droney cool-down for awhile, and once you start to get a little bored of it the band Slams right back in with some very death metal sounding riffage. Some more sparsely placed Growls chime in near the end and the song gets kinda thrashy again until slowing down at the last minute into another slow, quiet transition segment bringing us into song #3.

Right after this transition from track 2, “Vision” picks up speed and builds up fairly quickly right back into some beautiful somewhat southern tinged guitar-work and mid-paced drums. At about 3:10 the track speeds up a lot and goes into the last verse of vocals on the cd, with the guitars carrying on afterwards with more of baroness’s trademark sludgey/thrashy/deathy sound. Some great build-up from about 5:30 till the end of the song, ending abruptly and leaving you craving for more and wishing that this song would’ve gone of for another 10 minutes.

You may notice that I didn’t comment that much on particular solos/riffs/time signature changes, but not because of a lack of them, but rather because they are all over the place, abundant as hell, and all amazingly executed. This is the kinda stuff that you just can’t resist air-guitaring too no matter where you are. Overall, this is an excellent EP for fans of any type of Sludge, Death, or just metal in general. It’s only a 3 song EP, so why not plop down 6 or so Dollars and check it out?