BARONESS @Slade Rooms, Wolverhampton, 19/10/13

In many ways we should celebrate the fact that any of us here at all. In August last year, on their last European tour, the Coach that Baroness were travelling in was involved in a terrible crash, near Bath. 

By all accounts they were lucky to be alive, and as a result of events that night, it is a much different Baroness line up that greets us tonight.  Drummer Allen Blickle and bass man Matt Maggioni both felt unable to carry on and have been replaced by Sebastian Thomson and Nick Jost respectively, but the creative core of singer John Baizley and guitarist Pete Adams remain.

The crowds have come out too. The Slade Rooms – which is about double the size to the place we saw them in last July – is jam packed full by the time that they arrive onstage with “Ogeechee Hymnal.” In typically understated fashion there is no fanfare, just a smile and a wave, strap guitars in and away we go.

Away we go, in fact, with pretty much the same stunning set they treated us to last year. “Take My Bones Away” comes next with its opening riff coming out fighting before Baizley sings: “You lead the way, I’ll follow.” Who on earth knows that that song is about, but it is surely ironic that one of the most innovative bands in metal should open their show with that lyric.

“Take My…..” is one of 10 songs they play from the “Yellow and Green” album, which came out last year. A brave, sprawling, almost proggy double album, it is quite magnificent. Yet even here, Baroness seemed unsure of their move, explaining in interviews they might lose fans. They need not have worried.

For an hour and three quarters Baroness treat us to what ordinarily would just be a fantastic concert, but in the context of what happened, it amounts to giant victory lap and a great big one fingered salute to the world.

In addition to all the tracks from “Green and Yellow” there are plenty from “The Blue Record” which preceded it – helpfully, like last year the lights in the venue change colour depending on which album it comes from – and “Swollen and Halo” together with “A Horse Called Golgotha” still sound incredible.

There are small elements of showmanship from the band, and the new rhythm section have slotted in superbly, but perhaps the most surprising is the usually painfully shy Baizley playing the guitar behind his head during the encore of “Jake Leg.”

“Isak” from debut LP “The Red Album” plays us out and brings to a close what has been a quite incredible evening on so many levels. 

BARONESS, Empress, Bovine @Academy 3 Birmingham 9/7/12

John Baizley seems almost apologetic. The Baroness frontman appears concerned that the sold out crowd has enjoyed itself enough as he appears onstage for the encore. “We just wanted to connect with you guys,” he says. “Thanks for coming out tonight. The least we can do is give you what we have – and what we have is two more songs.” With that he launches his band into a stunning “Jake Leg” and an instrumental “Grad.”

What they also had was the foresight to give two young, local bands the chance to show their abilities. First up are the sludgy, riff heavy Bovine, who are interesting in a type of early Queens of the Stone Age type way, while the equally youthful Empress are even more impressive.

The four piece need to work on their stage craft, perhaps but their three song set should leave no one in any doubt as to their potential. Borrowing from the likes of Between The Buried And Me theirs is an ambitious sound, and by the end of “Left In Awe” RTM is keen to see more.

Which brings us back to Baroness. Here is a band that truly defies description. Are they sludge? Are they prog? Are they metal? The truth is they are all these things and more, so how about this: They are merely one of the most innovative heavy bands around right now.

Album number three, “Yellow and Green” rather confirms this. A sprawling, 2cd epic it isn’t out until next week, but early indications are that it is a fabulous affair that won’t be far from anyone’s best of 2012 lists.

Baroness play a decent smattering from “Yellow….” Including the single “Take My Bones Away” which is right up there with the songs of the year. The band, for all their reticence, seem to know this too, attacking the song as if lives depend on it. Another new one “March To The Sea,” casually tossed out early is neatly as impressive and the slow burning “Cocainium” rather confirms the early thoughts that the record might just be very special indeed.

As was the album that preceded it, “The Blue Record.” And a good portion of the best bits of this are played. The show begins with “Ogeechee Hymnal” which turns into “A Horse Called Golgotha” just like it does on the CD, before also taking a stop at a majestic “Swollen and Halo.”

If you came to see Baroness playing superb songs almost flawlessly then you were not disappointed, but where the band did surprise was the energy they showed and how much fun they were evidently having onstage, Baizley and new bass man Matt Maggioni even telling jokes. If you thought the group would be a little over earnest or po-faced you were wrong. Baizley is clearly not the most gregarious chap, nor the most talkative, but that never did Mastodon – a band with whom Baroness have much in common – any harm.

Of course he does open up for his rather passionate speech at the start of the encore. In the 10 minutes that follow we can see everything there is to see about Baroness. The only ones, it seems, who don’t realise their effortless brilliance are the band themselves, for the previous 90 minutes they have both enthralled and entertained and yet Baizley still seeks our approval.

This show bordered on the magnificent. Just imagine how good Baroness could be if only they understood how good they are.