Holy Crap! Baroness Is Playing Broken Goblet

E Westfall

 

Holy Crap! Baroness Is Playing Broken Goblet

It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that Baroness has been around for over 20 years now. Currently in their seventh lineup, they are out with a new album STONE, and out on the road heading to Broken Goblet on June 27th.

I’m going to let you readers know now that I’m a huge fan. If reading this sounds like it, that’s why.

Baroness is a Grammy-nominated prog metal band, started back in 2003 by John Baizley (lead vocals/ rhythm guitar) and childhood friends Tim Loose, Summer Welch, and Allen Blickle who grew up together in Lexington, Virginia.

The amazing current lineup features John Baizley with Nick Jost (bass/backing vocals), and Sebastian Thomson (drums) both of whom joined in 2013, and Philly’s own Pheom Gina Gleason (lead guitar/backing vocals) who joined in 2017.

Both Baizley and Gleason live in Philly with Jost and Thomson living in my old backyard in Brooklyn, NY. RIP Saint Vitus, waiting on the resurrection.

In 2007, they released their critically acclaimed debut, The Red Album, which Revolver magazine awarded “Album of the Year”.

The follow-up Blue Record had a more progressive and heavier sound, and earned metal magazine Decibel’s “Album of the Year.”

The double-album, Yellow & Green saw the band open up, exploring a wider variety of songs with more melodic vocals and alt-rock arrangements, earning a Top 30 chart debut in the US and Spin magazine’s “Metal Album of the Year.”

In 2015 the band started their own label, Abraxan Hymns, and released Purple, which Rolling Stone proclaimed

“…a ferociously cathartic and brilliantly crafted blast of progressive metal.”

 

In 2019, the now Grammy-nominated band released their ambitious album, Gold & Grey. This album triumphantly transcends genre boundaries, featuring anthemic alt-metal hooks that bounce between prog and jazz twists, space-rock and noise swirls, and pulses of trip-hop and 20th-century minimalism.

The band’s sixth studio album, STONE (2023), which Baizley remarks, “is a lot more alive, more direct.” refines the multi-genre style of Gold & Grey, aiming for greater efficiency and clarity, reflecting a newfound stability in this current lineup. The album is a convergence of heavy metal, progressive elements, Americana, and an improvisational spirit that showcases the band’s willingness to explore uncharted territory.

Baroness live, is hard to put into words. They bring the same energy whether they’re playing a giant summer festival or an intimate venue. John makes you feel every lyric and the band makes you feel every song. The musicianship is always on point and Gina drops the jaw of whomever I’m showing off the band to for the first time. I guess I managed a few words after all.

This is them on the Freak Valley Fest back in 2022.

And this is them at Kerrang Magazine’s tiny dive bar show series

See what I mean?

If you’ve never seen Baroness live, this is THE perfect opportunity. If you’ve never heard them before, check them out, then go see them live. It’s one of those shows that stays with you.

 

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