Baroness

I'll admit I haven't followed them too much - but I remember them as being way more sludgey and hard hitting. Nevertheless this is definitely an ear worm. I like how they play with those synth at the beginning and they manage to strike a pretty good chord between the more heavy elements and the strong pop melodies, that this song also contains.
 
I really liked their last album, Yellow and Green, and based on what I've heard so far, Purple could be even better. The track that NP posted above is very good, and first song they released from it, "Chlorine & Wine," is -- with all due respect to the excellent tracks on The Book of Souls -- the best hard rock/metal track I've heard this year. It can be found here: http://forum.maidenfans.com/threads/the-random-song-review-thread.22664/page-21#post-552641. Any Maiden fan would enjoy it, as the guitar melodies/duets are of a like quality. Just awesome.

The band has a compelling story. They had a chance to really grow their popularity while touring their last album, but they suffered a horrific bus accident that badly injured three of them (fortunately no fatalities), and cut the tour short. Plus, two of the injured members later quit the band as a result. The remaining members regrouped with a new bassist and a new (excellent) drummer and, after more than a year of physical recovery for their leader, Jon Baizley, they started anew. Very, very excited for this album to drop.
 
I enjoyed their early stuff, but nothing gripped me enough to follow them, to be honest. They've lost much of their heaviness, haven't they?

Here are my two favourite songs by them, definitely outstanding:
 
They've lost much of their heaviness, haven't they?
I wouldn't say they've lost it, they just mix it up more. They can still be very heavy, but they now juxtapose the heavy with softer parts. Makes them more dynamic. And they are definitely more melodic, which is a big improvement, in my view. For example, on "Tower Falls," the guitar riffs are amazing, but the vocals are just monotonous shouting. Now, the vocals are more anthemic -- but still rough and raw, it's not like the transition Opeth made from cookie-monster growls to soft, clean vocals. Their new drummer is also an upgrade. That said, if you just prefer relentless thrash to melodic hard rock, you probably should stick to the earlier stuff.
 
New concert clip, from LA show. This sounds amazing (much better sound quality than the studio album) and they are in top form. Enjoy the best band in America right now.

 
Baroness has a new guitar player. Appropriately, given the band name, they added a woman, Gina Gleason. Sad to see Pete Adams go, as he was a major contributor, but the lady has talent too. Evidently she came from a Metallica cover band. Here is a recently posted video of the new lineup playing the band's best song, live in a basement rehearsal space. Totally crushes.
 
I adore the two previous albums but the last one, I don't know, it didn't work for me.
Probably because it sounds like crap. Not that the music is bad, but it is recorded badly with too much distortion. Evidently this is an artistic choice, but it bugs the hell out of me. When they post videos of these live performances, which are much cleaner sounding, the music is far easier to appreciate and enjoy, in part because it can actually be heard.
 
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