Title: Purple
Artiste: Baroness
Year 2015
Nationality: American
Genre: Sludge Metal/Progressive Metal
Rank: Noob
4
Expectations: Considering all the great praise this seems to be getting from all quarters, I will probably accept nothing less than being blown away.
1. Morningstar: Like the beat and the way it kind of sways along; reminds me a little of Kamelot (shut up); very melodious and quite catchy. Yeah, there does sound like there's definitely something here right away, something that allows these guys to stand apart from a lot of the metal I've listened to in the previous year. Not that familiar with sludge, but I hear the progressive elements quite clearly.
2. Shock me: Lovely soft piano intro then it kicks up. And does it get going! Keeps a somehow commercial, almost Kisslike hook in the chorus, with a great guitar solo near the end.
3. Try to disappear: Like the sparse guitar line this opens on, then the percussion is oddly sort of dancy in a way before the guitars blast all before them, but again you can really hear a very catchy hook that could make this possible radio airplay material. The heaviness is still there but there's a definite sense of commercial appeal too.You really get the progressive metal overtones again here again.
4. Kerosene: The keys come into their own here, kind of for the first time on the album, which has so far seemed to be more guitar driven. But when they let loose on the keyboards it opens all sorts of new possibilities. That said, some phenomenal guitar work here and it rocks along like a good thing. Very reminiscent of Shadow Gallery on this. Excellent powerful ending.
5. Fugue: Given its title and length, I would assume this is an instrumental. It only runs for just over two and a half minutes, very low-key of course, with some very progressive guitar which puts me in mind of the later work of Steve Rothery. I kind of expected it to be a dolorous keyboard passage, but no, it's very much guitar-centric.
6. Chlorine and wine: Piano opening on this one, something like mandolin maybe, then it seems like it might stay slow and be a ballad? Two minutes in and no vocal yet. Oh here it comes, and as it does, harder guitar is hot on its heels as the song kicks up a little and gives the lie to this being a ballad. Maybe. It's still slow in tempo even if the intensity has increased. In about the fifth minute there's a lovely guitar instrumental passage before it heads into the final chorus with a very Brian Maylike guitar riff. Great vocal harmonies.
7. The iron bell: This one goes for it right out of the gate, hammering along at a fine lick. Great riff, catchy melody again. Like the midsection with a very Lizzyesque guitar.
8. Desperation burns: I don't know; there's something about this track that just is not doing it for me. Kind of passed me by.
9. If I have to wake up (Would you stop the rain?): Nice sense of drama about this. Sort of expected it to be a ballad though. Like the guitar outro.
10. Crossroads of infinity: Seventeen seconds? Really? Mechanised speech. Great.
Final result: Well I certainly wasn't blown away. It's a good album, even a very good album, but it's not the powerhouse I had been expecting from some comments on it. No Blues, and I had thought I would end up with a lot of them. Plenty of Greens, but nothing that really stood out to tell me this was an amazing album. I've read IDM's full review now, and to me it seems like he's talking about a different album, but you know, each to his own. This certainly would not be making it onto my AOTY list, not with albums of such higher quality in front of it. Interesting, entertaining and well played but I've heard better.
Rating: 