Baroness: Yellow & Green

Baroness: Yellow & Green

2012

Relapse

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 

Disc One:  1: Yellow Theme  2. Take My Bones Away  3. March to the Sea  4. Little Things  5. Twinkler  6. Cocainium  7. Back Where I Belong  8. Sea Lungs  9. Eula 

Disc Two: 1. Green Theme  2. Board Up the House  3. Mtns. (The Crown & Anchor)  4. Foolsong  5. Collapse  6. Psalms Alive  7. Stretchmarker  8. The Line BetweenThe Line Between  9. If I Forget Thee, Lowcountry

Writing about this kind of reminds me of a few months back when I was writing about Herb Alpert...It's just not in a genre I listen to very often. It's a current Heavy Metal album, of which I own very few. Mainly because...well..I can't especially stand modern Heavy Metal.

You see, I actually do theoretically like Heavy Metal...it's just that there's only a small amount of modern heavy bands that I consider worthwhile. I'm a huge fan of Clutch, and Ghost. Hell, I'll even throw on some Mastodon every once in awhile, but the genre seems to have stagnated on forms that came into vogue around the 90's that drove me away from Metal in the first place. Namely Black/Death metal, which I find to be extremely dull, and the Alice in Chains-like drudging active-rock.  You see, Death Metal should be exciting, since it's usually played at fast tempos, but it feels slow to me...usually because the vocalists sing quarter-notes...Compare this to the spit-fire vocal delivery of many hardcore punk bands like the Bad Brains for example...it makes it sound a lot more lively...But I guess the goal of something called "Death Metal" isn't to be lively. Oh yea...there's also the matter of melody...which has almost been completely abandoned in the Metal World...For some reason there's this stubborn idea that something can't be melodic and heavy...Man, what bullshit...

Most modern Metal sounds like Wrestlers should be walking down an aisle to it...

So yea..I love heavy metal, but ever since the genre downplayed the more melodic aspects I've almost completely abandoned the form. But I'm always on the lookout for bands that might be able to breathe some new life into it for me...And I kept hearing the name Baroness thrown around  as an example of a melodic, heavy metal band that wasn't afraid to take risks...Apparently, they used to be much heavier, but with each color-coded album they released, they stretched themselves further and further. So after having this recommended to me so many times, I finally decided to check it out after I found a copy of this for a very low price...

My first impression walking away is "this is what metal fans find to be experimental?" It's not too far removed from something  like the Foo Fighters or Mastodon...It's mostly straight-forward Arena Rock with giant leather-lunged choruses...I haven't listened to the  radio in years, but it wouldn't surprise me at all to hear "Take My Bones Away," "The Line Between" or "Board Up the House" there...Actually, if "Board Up the House" and "The Line Between" both aren't on your local rock station right now, it's a huge injustice...They're of a much higher caliber than most other bands on there...Though I find the vocals a bit colorless, the instrumentation and the songwriting are definitely way above average...

And they actually do show a bit of range, which is encouraging, and makes the double-album running time a breeze...I love when they bust out the Moog-sounding keyboard on  "Sea Lungs." Now this feels different and exciting!

I'm encouraged by the fact that there's been a recent increase in listenable Heavy Metal...who knows...Maybe one day it'll be a genre I'll listen to regularly again...Now let's really get our shit together and work on some listenable new punk (that isn't by bands that have been around for a decade plus!)

Okay, so since we're discussing Heavy Metal today, let's use this as an excuse to look at some more pictures from a RIP magazine I scanned in...

 

Great White/Warrant bukkake...

 

I showed my friend Russ this picture and he said in a wacky voice, "Hyuk! We're eating funny food!" You gotta hear him say it...I tell you what...I'll record him saying it next time and I'll post an audio clip  for you....

 

Here's an ad for some bitchen L.A. metal clothes...

"Spectres of Yngwie." This is just the most pompous picture that it's possible to take..Maybe if he was playing video games against himself it might be cool...but chess?!

Sorry to put you guys through all that...Anyway, let's check out"Board Up the House" by Baroness...