Baroness/Unpersons

A Grey Sigh In A Flower Husk

[4/5]

Since the days when CoC and D.R.I. injected some Sabbath into their Flag, hardcore and metal have intermingled and copulated like rabbits, producing countless inbred, mutant offspring. The results aren’t always pretty. Yet Savannah, Georgia’s favorite unwashed, noisy sons produce music that heaves with a squalid pulchritude. Heroes of the basement underground, Baroness have dazzled with their prog-metal mayhem. They share much in common with peers Intronaut or titans Mastodon, issuing forth epics marked by endless shifts in tone, temperament and tempo. They are consummate musicians. They do not disappoint here, giving us a standard length rocker and a 12 minute-plus opus. Unpersons wallow in noisier, more chaotic terrain (the Patagonia of hardcore, if you will). They love their old Am Rep records, and there’s a certain twisted Eyehategod quality to the bilious vocals. When they rev things up, they resemble a fuller-bodied Gasp. Not for the faint of heart. (AT A LOSS) Casey Boland