Album Review: Live at Maida Vale [EP] by Baroness

A bold move from a band that are never anything but, this live, limited-edition EP, featuring songs exclusively from their most recent disc, Yellow and Green, doesn't even attempt to please those unhappy with their explorations into their unique post-metal realm. And why should Baroness? Check out the first two tunes: "Take My Bones Away" and "March to the Sea," which are both memorable and evocative, concise yet open. They are great songs that carry a ton of forward momentum without being the least bit metallic; hearing them here, with a more ragged, crashing production, is a treat.

Full Review >>

When Baroness appeared at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in mid-June, the set marked only their 19th public performance in America since the release of their double album, Yellow & Green, nearly a year before. While on tour in Europe last August, just a month after issuing that ambitious record, the band’s tour bus careened through roadside barriers outside of Bath, England, and crashed violently into the woods beneath. The nine people in the bus suffered variable injuries, from cuts that got them out of the hospital quickly to, in the cases of drummer Allen Blickle and bassist Matt Maggioni, fractured vertebrae.

Full Review >>

Few bands deserve a victory lap more than Baroness in 2013. In 2012, they gave us the excellent double-record Yellow & Green, but they also survived a horrific bus crash while on tour (which would eventually cause two players to leave the band). Live at Maida Vale was recorded just a month before that accident and captures the band playing full-tilt four gems from Yellow & Green.

Full Review >>