Abraxan Hymns

Live Review: Baroness at The Bellwether

I love when I go see a band live that I haven’t seen in a while and I’m completely blown away. That happened the other night when I ventured out to The Bellwether in Los Angeles to see the one and only, Baroness! Riding high on their exceptionally great new album, Stone, Baroness delivered a show and set that shows that there is no slowing down for this band. If anything, they’ve only gotten better over the years. Having seen different lineups of the band over the years, I have to say this line up of John Baizley, Gina Gleason, Nick Jost and Sebastian Thomson is the best the band have ever sounded. It’s almost as though these 3 members were the missing ingredient for Baroness.

As the clock struck 9:00pm, the lights dimmed and the giant Baroness backdrop lit up and as they entered to “Embers” the opening of their new album, it was clear that business was about to be handled. Ripping right into “Last Word” it was apparent that Baroness is on a whole other level live these days. After “Last Word” it went straight into “A Horse Called Golgotha.” then onto “March To The Sea.” That trifecta alone was intense. Then came the awesome “Beneath The Rose” and from there we went into another exceptional new song, “Under The Wheel.” After that it was a nonstop onslaught of great song after great song including a personal favorite of mine “Tourniquet” from their Gold & Grey album. For their encore, they unleashed “Take My Bones Away” and “The Sweetest Curse. What a way to end the show.

Baroness are one of those bands that have such a vast catalog and cross section of influences which makes for great art, music and live shows. One of the things I loved most about this night and their set were the little extended jams to certain songs. When you listen to a Baroness album, especially those epic songs, you get swept up by it all and then live when those songs are played and they extend those parts ever so sweetly, it’s like hearing the song again for the first time. It’s quite a beautiful feeling. Another thing I have to mention is the intensity in which each member of the band played with. Watching them on stage put out the level of energy they did and play as hard as they did really upped the ante. As I mentioned in the opening, having Gina Gleason, Nick Jost and Sebastian Thomson in the band really completes the core. Their abilities as players and writers have pushed Baroness to explore different avenues which has made the band truly stand out and not be defined by one genre. This night showed that Baroness is here to stay and they are only getting better. If you haven’t seen Baroness live, I highly suggest you do as well as listening to their new album, STONE.

Baroness Set List:
01) Last Word
02) A Horse Called Golgotha
03) March To The Sea
04) Beneath The Rose
05) Under The Wheel
06) War, Wisdom and Rhyme
07) Anodyne
08) Chlorine & Wine
09) Tourniquet
10) Shock Me
11) The Gnashing
12) Isak

Encore:
13) Take My Bones Away (Tour Debut)
14) The Sweetest Curse

Review & Photos By: Brian Lacy

Baroness Live:

Album Of The Week: Baroness- Stone

There comes a time in every bands evolution when a change is needed. In the case of Baroness, they have been one of the most consistent bands in the sense of evolving. Be it member changes, color schemes, and life, there is no shortage of inspiration for this band. I still remember hearing the Red Album for the first time and digging it but, it wasn’t until the Blue Album, when I really think the band found its stride. Along the way, Baroness carved out their own little corner in the heavy music world and have pursued a path that is their own. And on their new album, Stone, Baroness have reached a true triumph as a band.

Carrying on the lineup from Gold & Grey, Baroness’s new album STONE, has defined the sound of the band. There is a resounding strength and focus found throughout this album. Musically, this album is on another level than they’ve gone before. Each member of this band Sebastian on drums, Nick on bass, Gina on guitar and vocal and of course John on guitar and vocals, are playing with a sense of confidence that takes new shapes and is quite inspiring. The rhythm section of Sebastian and Nick are quite the tandem in how they play off each other and the vibe that radiates from that part is captivating. Then you have the full emergence of Gina Gleason coming through on each song. I must say too, as a long time fan of this band and having seen all the different lineups, Gina is the perfect fit for this band. Just like Seb and Nick, Gina brought a new light to the band for the better and it’s really showing on this album. John still has a knack for those sludgey riffs and those delicate pieces that get quite tingling as each listen plays on. Thematically this record is quite the trip. One of the things that I truly enjoyed most about this album was getting swept up in journey that it takes you on. As an album enthusiast (albums are not lost on me. That’s a topic to be discussed at a later time), what you get with STONE is a piece of art that is explosive, delicate, psychedelic and introspective. Having songs like “Last Word,” “Beneath The Rose,” “Choir,” all in a row is a trifecta of YES!!!! Then there’s “Anodyne” and “Shine” that open up other worlds right into another trifecta of epicness with “Magnolia,” “Under The Wheel” and the closing track “Bloom.” One quick note that has to be made is, FINALLY, the album isn’t brick-walled into the skies above!

Listening to STONE and letting it take over is a journey you should most definitely take. It’s one of those albums that you’ve always known they had in them it just took the right lineup to make it. When you take Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Purple, Gold and Grey and put them together it forms a colorful stone and out of that you get Baroness.

Overall Rating: A

Review By: Brian Lacy

Baroness- STONE:

BARONESS ONLINE:

https://baroness.lnk.to/STONEYT

https://yourbaroness.com

https://www.instagram.com/yourbaroness

https://www.facebook.com/YourBaroness

https://twitter.com/yourbaroness

https://tiktok.com/@yourbaroness

New Release: Baroness- Last Word

This is exciting! New Baroness is on the way! Today, the first single “Last Word” from Baroness’s upcoming new album, Stone was released. On September 15 the long awaited new album arrives via the band’s label Abraxan Hymns. Speaking on the album singer/guitarist John Baizley said “An important through line in Baroness is we don’t like to repeat ourselves. It’s all about the willingness to take risks. When I was younger, the whole point of music was to be different, not to do the same thing, and not to listen to parents or play by the rules. That’s kind of goofy, but in practice, it works. It’s really sort of terrifying to be at the sixth record in your career and think that you’ll have to keep up with your history rather than continually invent. So, we doubled down on continuously inventing to see where it takes us. I think this record is a good reflection of that. ‘Stone’ is a lot more alive, more direct.”

Baroness spent a month shrouded amidst the pines, holed up in a vacation rental that became an impromptu recording space replete with big, vaulted ceilings, hardwood floors, and brick/glass walls. While they wrote “Stone”, Baizley recorded and pre-mixed it in real time, giving each song on “Stone” its own sonic treatment. After the group finished tracking drums, guitars, and bass, they took everything back to Baizley’s basement studio to record vocals. Stone, is the band’s first self-produced album and was mixed by Joe Barresi and mastered by Bob Ludwig.

Baroness- Last Word: