Baroness has finally finished their third studio album, entitled "Yellow & Green." The four piece from Savannah, Georgia take on a bit of a different sound with this new album. It leans more towards the psychedelic rock genre with mostly clean vocals throughout the album. However you still get your insane drumming and wild guitar solos along with a few other instrumental surprises along the way. The band has broken up the album into two discs. This review is for the first disc.
The album starts with a short minute and a half intro instrumental including soothing keyboards and calm guitars. This fades right into the second track, "Take My Bones Away." Hard hitting drum rolls and distorted guitars come blaring in. The vocals start the verse off immediately with harsh clean tones. Wild melodies fly through the air while groovy bass lines take over the background of the song. The chorus has catchy lyrics that'll have you singing along in no time. The track has a very upbeat sound overall and leans a little more towards the hard rock genre. The band includes a reckless guitar solo towards the middle of the song that will blow your mind. Make sure you pay close attention to the drums as well. Each fill is complex and different from the next.
"March To The Sea" follows with a mellow entry. Clean guitars float in with catchy melodies. They switch over to fast guitar picking during the verse as relentless double bass drum patterns rumble heavily in the background. The vocals continue with an aggressive clean delivery that really defines this sludge metal band. Fast melodic riffs take off during the refrain while violent cymbals are splashing away along with rapid snares and kicks. Another wild solo takes over towards the name dropping notes left and right. You'll definitely find yourself replaying this track a few times.
Another catchy melody opens up "Little Things" as a detailed bass line rolls through with another groovy tone. The vocals in the verses are a lot more calm than the last few tracks. They basically just leave out the harshness and get a little more melodic with the lyrics. The beat of the drums will definitely have your head bobbing throughout the track. Later you'll come across a trippy song called "Cocainium." The beginning contains psychedelic guitar riffs and sound effects while a thumping bass line steps in with a deep tone. The kick drum is constantly hitting along with light cymbals behind them. The verse picks up about two minutes into the song and continues with soft clean vocals layered on top of one another. Distorted guitars fade in later as you'll notice some parts of the vocals begin to get a little more aggressive. Overall the mellow clean vocals carry you through the song while the guitars and bass do all the work. A lot goes on in the track so you might have to replay it a few times to get the full experience. "Sea Lungs" pick things up again with fast upbeat drums rolls and distorted guitars. The vocals get there harshness back with loud shouting vocals with a bit of melody on the side. They add some interesting filters to the vocals as well giving off a real "underwater" tone to the mix. The track definitely reminds me of Mastodon. I had a hard time moving on from this one.
The final track, entitled "Eula," opens with mellow acoustic guitars and strange keyboard sounds. The verses contain calm clean singing vocals with catchy melodies. Meanwhile futuristic guitars continue to float lightly in the background with gorgeous melodies. As the song moves on it becomes more and more violent. The vocals deliver a heavy tone of clean sing. Meanwhile the drums are go absolutely crazy. Cymbals are shattering from all directions while distorted guitars take over the background with blaring riffs. The detail in the drum fills are astonishing and will definitely have you bobbing your head in this last track. The band really ended this first disc with a bang!
The first disc to "Yellow & Green" isn't as heavy as i expected but a terrific album none the less. The drums rolls are mind blowing and the guitar solos will hypnotize you and pull you deeper and deeper into the album. The constant clean vocals are a nice change up and will definitely have you wanting to sing along more often. This is a must hear album for 2012 so don't miss out.
9/10
Official Site - http://baronessmusic.com/
Myspace - http://www.myspace.com/yourbaroness
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