A GREY SIGH IN A FLOWER HUSK

This is an early (in the terms of the bands involved) split album that was released to try to bring some attention to what were both sludgy sounding bands. All the tracks on this album were exclusive to this release, and for fans of Baroness and /or Unpersons, this is a big plus. Being a Baroness fan myself, I am mostly interested in their tracks, which are both quite stellar on this album, even though these are early tracks and it shows the band searching for their own sound.

It begins with Baroness featuring two songs, one of them a medium length song called "Teiresias" (over 6 minutes), which proves that the band was trying to find a niche with Mastodon fans. It's a heavy song, much heavier than the albums that would follow, with a lot more yelling/singing than what the average Baroness listener might be used to. It is also quite progressive and one that will appeal to the progressive metal listener. The 2nd track, though, is the real epic masterwork from the band and the one worth the price of admission. "Cavite" is a 12 minute monster which, except for the heavier vocals, points the direction that the band was to take for both the "Red" and "Blue" albums to follow. It is very dynamic and progressive, changing heaviness, meter, and style throughout, yet remaining heavy and also stepping out of the sludgier aspects of metal. This is one that will appeal to Isis fans.

The 2nd part of the album belongs to the more unfamiliar band "Unpersons". They have four tracks, 3 of which are around 3 minutes and the last one which stretches past 6 minutes. Their music is definitely more unhinged, with wild and wacky vocals, yet keeping a changing sludgy atmosphere, yet not really bogging things down much. It's the right amount of their insanity as much more might get to be a bit too much. However, with about the same amount of time total as the 2 Baroness tracks, it's the right amount. Most proggers might find this part of the album a bit too wild for their taste, but progressive metal lovers will also enjoy this, even with the insane sounding vocals. The last track has the trickiest aspects with meters and riffs going off everywhere, and it is fortunately their longest, which, on the 2nd half, goes off into some more experimental, noise rock territory.

Typically, I usually skip the Unpersons tracks, but when I'm in the right mood, they are quite enjoyable anyway, but their not as good as the Baroness tracks. Their tracks are a solid 4 star attempt, where Unperson's tracks tend to hand around the 3 star range with the last one of the bunch the best of them. This is a great EP/Split album for progressive metal heads, especially those that love their heaviness thick, sludgy and dirty. However, this will appeal to fans more than anyone. '