BARONESS — Blue Record (review)

BARONESS — Blue Record album cover Album · 2009 · Sludge Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"Blue Record" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US sludge metal act Baroness. The album was released through Relapse Records in October 2009. The regular version of the album features 12 tracks while the Deluxe Edition features a bonus CD with 5 tracks recorded live at the Roadburn Festival in 2009. Just like every other release by Baroness, "Blue Record" is also graced with a cover artwork created by guitarist/vocalist John Baizley who in addition to being a musician is also a very skilled visual artist.

The music on the album is a quite adventurous mix of progressive sludge metal, 70s hard rock/metal and rock´n´roll (there´s even a folky acoustic track called "Steel That Sleeps the Eye" on the album). The musical style is pretty hard to describe with words and I´m afraid my above description might confuse more than it helps. This is simply one of those albums you´ll have to give a listen yourself (and believe me it´s worth it) to determine which labels you would apply to it. This is one of those cases that gives reviewers headaches and countless hours of problems with writing a review and I´m sure that´s how Baroness prefer it. No boundaries and one adventurous journey through a 44:25 minutes long album full of surprises. It´s not like the music sticks out in every direction though. The album is highly consistent both quality wise and in terms of style (which kind of contradicts my above statement about the surprises, but I said this was a difficult album to describe right!). So let´s see, the music features heavy mid-paced sludgy riffing, lots of melodic guitar work (I´m reminded of Thin Lizzy and Wishbone Ash at times), various raw/clean vocal styles and a pretty raw and filthy production. It´s not a lo-fi underproduced affair though, the sound is deliberately made to sound this way. It took a while to learn to appreciate but ultimately it´s a pretty strong sound production.

The musicianship are on a high level on all positions. These guys are very well playing but it´s the playfullness of the whole affair that takes the prize. Upon conclusion "Blue Record" is a great sophomore album. Baroness have been through a radical tranformation and development since their early releases, which "Blue Record" doesn´t sound much like. A 4 star (80%) rating is more than deserved for a very original and adventurous sounding album by a band that refuse to be put into a box.
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