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CRITIC REVIEWS
100
You don’t need telling to get on Stone – a Baroness record is recommendation enough. But in the context here, with the stones and everything, it’s an entirely pleasing reminder that when they create something, it will stand for the ages.
90
Because it doesn’t last nearly as long as Gold & Grey, Stone somewhat lacks that record’s expansive splendor. It more than makes up for it, though, by delivering a more focused, diverse, and accessible experience.
80
All in all, this is very different Baroness record. It's not really what I expected even though I knew the band was clear about their new direction. However, after a number of listens I've grown to really love it.
80
More than a simple distillation or a ‘return to roots’, Stone is an ideas-heavy brute in its own right: a monument to ambition and heaviness, and to refusing to rest too long in one place lest roots or languor take hold.
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1w
80
Self-produced and recorded in an Airbnb by Baizley, STONE corrects the mistakes of Gold & Grey — often an over-mixed and muddied record that only really sounded crisp on the most expensive headphones — by shining a light on their layered guitar work, trembling bass riffs and war-cry vocals.
80
BARONESS’ refusal to repeat themselves and to evolve in some way with every record has paid off hugely here; while Stone takes its time to truly release its secrets, once it does it’s a truly arresting album that sinks its hooks in deep.
80
The sign of a great album is when one genre label doesn’t quite do it justice.
78
The band (and mix) sounds healthy and reinvigorated, the tracklist covers a fair range of sounds, and at the end of the day, it's still every inch a Baroness album. We have nowhere left to run, after all.
70
Stone balances Baroness' carefully crafted shorter ambitions with mid-length jams to provide listeners with constantly shifting tensions, fluid dynamics, lush harmonies, and pile-driving riffss
70
Stone is another strong entry into Baroness’ catalog of quality albums.
65
If you're a fan of heavy music of any shade or stripe, or Baroness in general, you're in for a treat. If you're a fan of cohesive, consistent albums, you'd do better to look elsewhere.
62
For the first time ever, the Southern metal expats return with the same lineup as their previous album. A little outside input could’ve gone a long way.
Stone is some of my favourite 2023 metal so far! I am enjoying it day by day but I am not too crazy about some moments, Shine is one of the bands worst performance but the lyrics make up for so much, John Baizley doesn't sell it to me this time with his dramatic singing that is a bit too similar to Vic Fuentes. I think the escalating writing that develop as the song progresses are very emotionally dense and full of pessimistic outlooks that are depressing and sick at the same time. What I'm ... read more
My first time listening to a Baroness album...and it's good!
I first heard "Swollen and Halo" in one of the old MLB The Show soundtracks funny enough and I have liked them ever since so it was really nice to finally hear one of their releases in full. I love the vocals by John Baizley & Gina Gleason and I think this a strong statement of a record. I'll have to listen to more of their discography since a lot of their albums have good ratings.
I almost forgot to mention that ... read more
This album is weird as fuck, and a lot of that weirdness holds the album back. For example, the bizarre talk-singing is pretty bad, the random folky acoustic cuts on this are actually pretty good but are nonetheless an odd deviation from the album's main sound. This is actually the best Baroness has sounded in a while, great riffs, fast pace, and interesting and engaging vocals; I just wish it wasn't buried under all this random fodder.
I can't work out if Baroness is still sticking to the colour theme with Stone?! Either way, this album rocks. I love a band that is not afraid to evolve with every album. To be honest, this is the kind of band you could start with any of their albums. At some point, I might go back and review their other five albums, all worth listening to. It's just great sludge/progressive metal!
Standouts: Last Word, Beneath the Rose, Shine, Under the Wheel
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Track List
| 1 | Embers 1:00 | 69 |
| 2 | Last Word 6:17 | 87 |
| 3 | Beneath the Rose 5:34 | 84 |
| 4 | Choir 4:05 | 70 |
| 5 | The Dirge 1:18 | 73 |
| 6 | Anodyne 3:19 | 76 |
| 7 | Shine 6:31 | 79 |
| 8 | Magnolia 7:48 | 78 |
| 9 | Under the Wheel 6:10 | 80 |
| 10 | Bloom 4:00 | 73 |
Total Length: 46 minutes
By Dalton
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1mo
Singles sounds like they're going back on giving people the purple's sound because they're all a f*cking bunch of assh*les crying because of the production of the G&G, sounds great even that, but still, Barones have a cavemen fanbase
3mo
they're the greatest in making incredible covers, john baizley is a renaissance man fr fr
Added on: January 25, 2023