There have been murmurings about Savannah, Georgia-based four piece metal outfit Baroness (is it bar-on-ESS or BAR-on-ess?) in the underground metal community for some time now. Those murmurings are quickly becoming a buzz, and with good cause.
I'll admit, when I picked up their debut full-length, Red Album, a few weeks ago I wasn't immediately hooked. The album grew on me after a few more spins, but I still wasn't convinced that their buzz was entirely deserved.
Still, I made the trek out to Bushwick last Monday to see them at Don Pedro's. Don Pedro's is a half finished hole-in-the-wall of a bar, and probably has more in common with your friend's parents' unfinished basement (yeah, the one where most of your alcohol and marijuana consumption took place during high school) than any sort of 'real' bar. The place couldn't be better suited to host an 'underground' metal show.
After an enjoyable, but ultimately unmemorable, set by Brooklyn-based Tournament and an aggressive set from female-fronted thrash/black metal band Attake, Baroness took the stage.
[Baroness]
By this time, Don Pedro's was bursting at the seams with Brooklyn's small but ardent metal community. Cramming five hundred people into a two hundred person space tends to create a situation where everyone is wedged in together like sardines, but-- against all odds and the laws of physics-- when Baroness hit their first note a mosh pit miraculously appeared.
The crowd was crazy for Baroness-- fists pumping, feet stomping, hair flying-- and the band reciprocated their energy. The only thing that could have stopped the metal fury was if the power went out, which it did. Their Sunn and Marshall amps, turned up to eleven, were apparently too much for Don Pedro's to handle.
The outtage didn't last long, however, and the show continued. Afterwards, band and fans alike were out of breath-- satisfied in their collective knowledge that 'this' is what heavy metal is all about. Baroness are a no-bullshit band-- difficult to pigeonhole-- and unsuspecting metalheads would be well advised to take notice.
Upcoming dates:Baroness - 10/9 Charleston, SC @ Cumberlands
Baroness [MySpace] [MP3]
Red Album [Amazon] [iTunes]
October 9, 2007
Baroness - Live at Don Pedro's with Attake, Tournament [10/1/07]
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2 hollers:
not too mention Baisley (spelling?) is a bad ass artist... check out the album covers for Baroness's 'First' & 'Second'
Fuck yeah. This show was AWESOME. What most surprised me was... where did all these "scene" metal kids miraculously appear from? They came out of the woodwork, and in Bushwick of all places.
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