[rating=8.00]
Rarely do we laud metal music with brilliant songwriting. That praise is typically reserved for more stripped down genres such as folk, country, or rock. Metal’s epithets typically include adjectives like powerful, intense, chaotic, or energetic. The discography of Baroness, including the newly released Purple album, however, shirks this preconception. Baroness are masters of song construction and capable of evoking a wide spectrum of emotions. Metallica, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Tool are some exceptions that come to mind, but Baroness is taking a note from their book and running with it in a new direction.
Baroness is very much at the forefront of a movement of bands that are breaking perceived metal taboos that have long been held by self-appointed purists of the genre. These xenophobes fear the dilution of their metal gene pool by starry-eyed hipsters. They have particularly singled out bands like Baroness, Pallbearer, The Sword, Deafheaven and every band on Relapse Records as the new hipster-metal that is infiltrating their perfect world of Celtic Frost-worshipping metalheads.
Baroness continues to break away from their more mainstream metal roots with their fourth release, the triumphant, Purple album. This is also their first album since their well-documented bus crash in 2012, and the album name is indicative that it was written during a healing period after their near-death experience. Purple is an epochal celebration of the creativity of Baroness, combined with enough power riffing and testosterone to satiate any metalhead’s appetite.
The album opens with the explosive track “Morningstar” that awakens the listener to the epic saga that is a Baroness album. “Shock Me” begins with light synths in the intro that erupt into staccato guitar riffs and double bass assaults, making it one of the album’s most infectious tracks.
“Try to Disappear” is a heavy and beautiful track while “Kerosene” is frenetic and riveting and “Fugue” is a 3-minute instrumental that soothes and caresses while simultaneously resetting the listener’s palate. “Chlorine & Wine” is the first single off of Purple and for good reason, as it is a building, multi-part, inspiring anthem that exudes lead singer John Baizley’s pain and anguish.
“The Iron Bell” is the biggest shot of adrenaline off the entire album and sends the listener into the stratosphere with stark urgency. “Desperation Burns” is a head-banging, percussion extravaganza, while “If I Have To Wake Up” concludes Purple with slow-burning, introspective sentiment.
Purple continues to stretch alt-metal’s boundaries, even more so than their groundbreaking mega double album, Yellow & Green. The album’s redemptive mood deftly oscillates between the darkness of Baroness’s past trauma and their fortitude and joie de vivre to simply be alive in the present. Anything that can be defined as unique and chooses to deviate from convention will inherently have its detractors. Yet, unlike the fad-genres and gimmick bands that fade fast, Baroness has tapped into a prodigious aesthetic that will only continue to gain momentum as more metal and non-metal fans see how special this band really is.
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