Stone

Work on Stone, the sixth album by Baroness, began during the pandemic. The band held Monday night Zoom meetings and shared files, riffs, and songs. They amassed 30 tracks before entering a Barryville, New York home studio in November to cut the best of what they had, and they recorded and mixed each track individually, creating unique sonic portraits. Long tours followed in 2021 and 2022, further delaying Stones release. Baroness standard recording approach combines sludge-and-stoner metal with prog, folk, drones, and psych. Stone, self-produced and mixed by Joe Barresi, focuses closely on the bands attention to songwriting, craft, and execution; they cover the seams between their directional shifts. On the lions share of Stone, Baroness offers shorter songs and stretches out within them. Opener "Embers" is a minute-long acoustic intro with Baizley, Gleason, and bassist Nick Jost in three-part harmony. It dissolves into the blistering prog metal of "Last Word." Anthemic vocals are supported by soaring refrains in multi-part harmony as serpentine guitar hooks are underscored by thundering kick drums and crash cymbals. Gleasons screaming 30-second guitar solo rips the tune open during its second half. "Beneath the Rose" opens with a knotty, precise, yet dissonant exchange between bass, drums, and lead guitar before the riff crashes in with Gleason and Baizley playing in unison before they shift into intense, crushing, staggered vamps. "Choir" chugs along with ringing guitar sonics, a syncopated bassline, and grooving drums before kitman Sebastian Thomson stitches in a synth for dramatic effect. "The Dirge" is a short interlude about death offered with acoustic guitars, a droning synth, and ironically bright, sweetly delivered, three-part vocal harmony. "Anodyne" vamps in ominously, offering massive riffs and an intricate melody unfolding through the minor-key progression. "Shine" commences as acoustic prog, but shatters that notion quickly with pummeling percussive force, ringing, psychedelic guitars, and Baizleys vocal roaring over the top with compelling, poetic lyrics that place him in a league of his own. "Magnolia" introduces itself as a proggy acoustic ballad, ethereal, dark, and alluring. Gleasons tender slide guitar break evolves less than 30 seconds later into a shattering power riff underscored by Thomsons kit. The tunes frame shatters as Baroness moves into taut, seamless prog metal. A funereal sludge fuels the endless plodding in "Under the Wheel" (the sets only misstep), while closer "Bloom" is an acoustic ballad with a breezy, circular melody that sounds influenced by the Grateful Deads Workingmans Dead. In sum, Stone balances Baroness carefully crafted shorter ambitions with mid-length jams to provide listeners with constantly shifting tensions, fluid dynamics, lush harmonies, and pile-driving riffs. Stone reveals a wide musical portrait of the ever-evolving Baroness, who seems to be embarking on a more expansive creative voyage. ~ Thom Jurek