Jul. 25, 2012 - Issue #875: Shout Out Out Out Out
Yellow and Green
Baroness {recordings_bands_mg} Yellow and Green {/recordings_bands_mg}
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It's been two years since the Blue Record and Baroness has returned with a double album in Yellow & Green. The two most traditional sounding Baroness tracks, "Take My Bones Away" and "March to the Sea," were released as singles early this spring. They might have given the impression that this new album might be just as sludgey, loud and crusty as the Red Album, but Yellow & Green, much like the colours themselves, is a much more muted approach to the aggression the band usually expresses.Overall there's a greater sense of melody to the album and a less aggressive tone. But what might be most jarring is the use of vocals. You can actually hear vocalist John Baizley sing. Rather than the growly, lower vocals we're used to from Baizley— vocals on the Blue and Red albums were shouted or growled—the vocals sound more attuned to a melodic rock band, which is what Baroness has become for most of Yellow & Green. This might be what takes the most adjusting. Instrumentally there are few who can match the skill of Baroness, but the vocals and slower, melodic tempos take some getting used to.
Fans of the heavy-driven track "Rays on Pinion" from Red or the uncompromising "The Gnashing" on Blue might be disappointed in this new album, but it's by no means a bad album, just not one we would have expected from Baroness. Baizley and his crew are exceptionally talented musicians whose technical skill is worth getting up close in the pit to watch. In other, less technically skilled hands, a metal-band-to-epic-melodic-rock transition would be a cringe-inducing listen, but Baroness has proven to be a band capable of big ideas and this album takes the time to expand on those resoundingly epic and reflective thoughts. At 70 minutes, traditional Baroness fans may not be willing to make the commitment to indulge in that expansive journey, especially when it's sometimes difficult to get through the slowly paced tracks that bleed emotion ("Foolsong"). But, at the very least, Yellow & Green is an experiment by a talented band with big ideas and that makes it worthy of your time.
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