Baroness’s fourth studio album is even more personal.
Released on their new label and featuring new members Nick Jost and Sebastian Thompson, it is their first record since their bus crash in 2012, which changed the band profoundly.
There is a sense of renewed purpose in this work, and an enlivened, heightened atmosphere, partly down to the deft touch of producer David Fridmann, who helps weave the band’s metal roots in with folk and psychedelia.
Morningstar and Shock Me leaven the heavy, relentless guitars with a lightness of melody.
There are references to fire (Kerosene, Desperation Burns) and death (the epic Chlorine & Wine), but this record never gives in to anger or melancholy.
Rather, Purple is a passionate, personal statement on the responsibility we have to live meaningfully.
