SECOND

"Second" is as the name suggests the second release by US sludge metal act Baroness. "Second" is like the first release by the band "First (2003)" a 3 track EP released by the Hyperrealist label.

When describing the music on the EP it´s hard not to mention two specific sludge metal acts. Imagine what would happen if early Mastodon (aggressive sludge metal) was injected with a fix of Isis (heavy, atmospheric and experimental post/sludge metal). I´ll tell you what! It would probably sound like the music on this EP. All three tracks are intriguing and the musicianship are excellent so in addition to being a worthwhile purchase in terms of quantity (the EP features a 20:20 minutes long playing time) it´s certainly also a worthwhile purchase in terms of quality.

The sound production is professional, raw and powerful. It´s a suiting sound for the music. So "Second" is in many ways a great second release by Baroness and definitely a step up from the otherwise promising "First (2003)". They had yet to develop a more original sound at this point and the nods toward the two above mentioned acts are a bit too obvious at times, but a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is still fully deserved.

Now the "Second", which once again has three songs that make a total time of 20 minutes. The first one is entitled "Red Sky" and starts with a solid sound that catches your attention since the first notes, the strings play repetitive notes that may be considered some kind of math rock or Discipline-esque ones (you know what I mean), but well later the music changes, becoming more distorted with the entrance of vocals and a different structure.This is a cool song, better than the three from their First EP.

"Son of Sun" starts all of a sudden, with a calmer sound, excellent drums and some nice distorted guitars whose intensity will be increasing with the pass of the seconds. Three minutes later there is a change, the vocals appear and seems to make the music explode, the nuances are new and the textures also different. Later there are moments of stillness which are interrupted by some lightning-like guitars that sound every 4-5 seconds, until at minute five it does really explodes and we can listen to a heavy Baroness. Cool track as well.

The last one is "Vision" which is the most experimental of them all. Drums and strings are playing in worlds apart, making some noises that seems not to be joined, but then little by little all are joined so the song acquires a form. Then the instruments follow the same path, strings play the same notes while drums do their best. The atmosphere is pretty cool, sometimes giving a sensation of powerful, some other of nervousness. This is a great song to finish this pretty good EP. Much better than the first one, without a doubt.

Three stars. Enjoy it!

BARONESS followed up its debut EP, "First" with the logically titled SECOND which was released the very next year in 2005. Like the debut, this one contained three tracks that exceeded the 20 minute mark and along with the debut was one of the two releases to feature the early lineup of John Baizley (vocals, guitar), Allen Blickle (drums), Tim Loose (guitar) and Summer Welch (bass.)

SECOND exhibits a more sophisticated sound that while not jettisoning the extreme core influences that emerged from the members' punk roots that offer caustic sludge metal delivers on overdrive, the band's progressive tendencies that peeked through the din on the debut are more developed on this one and in many ways BARONESS sounds most like Mastodon on this one as the 2000s found an entire Georgia scene that incorporated core and punk influences into sludge metal along with progressive and psychedelic elements.

While "First" was on high octane all the time, SECOND allows for some slower echoey guitar sequences that allow some interesting instrumental interplay especially on "Son Of Sun" which displays some of the band's notorious flirtations with progressive rock that would become its signature sound and as a result makes a much more interesting musical experience than on "First" although that one was a wickedly wild unadulterated slab of primeval raw sludge metal.

One can think of these early EP years as the first phase of BARONESS which includes the following split with Unpersons titled "A Grey Sigh In A Flower Husk" before the lineup change that would debut on the band's first full-length "Red Album." In addition to the sludge metal antics of Mastodon on SECOND, there are clear references to post-metal bands like Isis as well the expected Kylesa connection. Overall i prefer this much more sophisticated SECOND offering to the first because not only does it deliver a filthy raw slab of caustic sludge metal but also exceeds its one-dimensional nature by offering respites into more progressive and psychedelic meanderings.