Album Review: Baroness Yellow & Green

Baroness have a lot riding on third full-length offering Yellow & Green. This is the album where they attempt to extricate themselves from the sludge metal ghetto, and fans are going to have to decide whether Baroness are unassuming saviours of alt-rock or blowhards who sold out their metal cred for a shot at the big time. What makes things interesting is that at different points during Yellow & Green, you might be inclined to agree with both.

Beneath frontman John Baizley's lush album art lies one of the most involving, and likely divisive, rock records of the year. Disowning the metal influences that lingered throughout 2009's Blue Record, Yellow & Green sees Baroness create something with an entirely new sonic palette, and the daring they demonstrate makes tracks like Eula and Mtns. (The Crown & Anchor) such unexpected gems. There's also an incredible intricacy to the album, March To The Sea sounds like an indie rock band discovering distortion pedals and the melody-driven dreariness of Little Things is awe-inspiring.

But that's one side of the album, and Yellow & Green has an undeniably pompous flipside; it's never a good sign when a band takes less than 80 minutes of material, splits it across two discs and calls it a double album. Yellow & Green takes itself so seriously that it completely ignores rock'n'roll's intrinsic sense of hedonism and fun.

For the litany of pros and cons that jump out throughout Yellow & Green, Baroness' creative ambition is evident and unwavering. If nothing else, Baroness have produced a record that you really need to sit with and have a think about.