Baroness
w/ Akaname

The Espy, St Kilda – 19th Nov 2010

Twenty two. That’s the number of Australian shows that US sludge band Baroness have played this year. And yet, towards the very end of the list, they are still packing out venues. While their performance earlier in the year at the monstrous Soundwave Festival was an easy highlight of the event, there was no doubt in my mind that a smaller venue was where these fellas work best. And I wasn’t wrong.

But before I get into that; Akaname, the one and only support act of the night. After a few pre-beers at the heavenly Local Taphouse in St Kilda, we made our way to the Espy just in time to catch the band kicking off, a bit after 9pm. Three or so songs later and pizza was a better option. While there was undoubtedly a few good ideas in there, the overall combination of powerful Cloudkicker-esque riffs, odd song structures and erratic transitions resulted in what was, quite simply, a mess. The balance of prog influences and actual power seemed strange and jarring, with a lack of any real contrast, falling flat on their arses in the same way that so many tech death bands do. And while spoken samples are usually a good way to offset a band’s instrumental nature, their placement during the set was nothing if not out-of-place.

Thankfully, the mighty Baroness more than made up for it. Launching straight into the opening three tracks of their latest release Blue Record, the band were clearly full of energy. Huge riffs, stellar musicianship, and the fact that the whole band (particularly bearded frontman John Baizley) seemed to genuinely be enjoying themselves, made for one monster performance. Talking was kept to a minimum, with the focus clearly being on the new material. The Red Album got a quick showing with “Isak” and “The Birthing”, before six more newies. Those who loved the broadened sound of the later album, myself included, would have been more than happy to notice that many of the tracks had another minute or two added onto them, mostly being atmospheric guitar-based build-ups and grooves. A few oldies finished the set off with two more Red Album tracks and one each off their appropriately titled First and Second EP’s.

Despite the setlist comprising of eight new tracks, the overall set was a perfect balance of their catchier rock-influenced material and the heavy balls-to-the-wall sludge. Topping it off, a superb mix ensured that there was oodles of power, but with none of the intricacies lost in the background.

If you somehow managed to miss every show; despite their already-huge list of Australian shows, the overwhelming positive crowd response and the fact that the band seem at home on the live stages makes it hard to imagine that the band won’t be back once their next recording hits the stores, whatever colour it may be.

Akaname setlist:
1. The Animus Obscene
2. Transmutations
3. Correspondence
4. Vibration
5. Polarity
6. Rhythm
7. Nannamaster
8. Yield
9. Causality

Baroness setlist:
1. Bullhead’s Psalm
2. The Sweetest Curse
3. Jake Leg
4. Isak
5. The Birthing
6. Ogeechee Hymnal
7. A Horse Called Golgotha
8. War, Wisdom and Rhyme
9. Swollen and Halo
10. The Gnashing
11. Red Sky
12. Wanderlust
13. Grad
——-
14. Tower Falls