#progressive sludge

Baroness: First EP (2004)

I told myself I wouldn't do this, but I'm going to cheat and write separate reviews for Baroness' First and Second EPs, even though I bought this handy, 2008 combo platter of the Savannah, GA metal-heads' initial offerings.

Initially released in '04 through their hometown Hyperrealist label, the First EP housed three tracks that only hint at the stylistic breadth of Baroness' future sonic experiments, but the essential traits were already recognizable even at this formative stage.

These basically followed Mastodon's example for downsizing post-metal's expansive ambitions into focused song nuggets, streaked with disparate influences from progressive metal, death metal, alternative rock, hardcore, and sludge.

In fact, before the post-metal genre was even properly codified as such, I myself frequently referred to bands like Isis and Neurosis as "progressive sludgecore," and Baroness' very first offering, the multi-faceted, "Tower Falls," fits that thorny description to a T.

More interesting than infectious, it clears the deck for the compact, dynamic, and straightforward "Coeur," which better showcased band leader John Baizley's songwriting instincts, while retaining unexpected tricks like occasional blast-beat sprints.

And the closing "Rise" spread the band's creative wings yet again via hypnotic fretboard fingering exercises, bludgeoning counterpoint riffs, reverberating power chords, thrusting, thrashy staccatos, and a doom-laden denouement.

At no point would I call all this evidence of certified greatness, but, in retrospect (heck, especially in retrospect), Baroness' budding promise was easy to recognize, even if most of us didn't really get behind the band until 2007's Red Album.

One final thought: this EP and its immediate successor also gave early signs of Baroness' Obsessive Compulsive Disorder when it came to album titles, only as expressed through numbers instead of colors -- an obsession I wager they now regret.

Album of the day: THE OCEAN - Pelagial

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