Baroness have just given us another awesome track from their upcoming fourth studio album, Purple, which will see a Dec. 18 release. “Shock Me” continues the growth of Baroness from a full-on metal band to a unique rock singularity.
Purple will be Baroness’ first album since the catastrophic bus accident that nearly took the lives of all four members. Drummer Allen Blickle and bassist Matt Maggioni left Baroness soon after, allowing bassist Nick Jost and drummer Sebastian Thomson to step in. “Along with the rest of Purple, ‘Shock Me’ represents the net result of an arduous reformation/rehabilitation process following the release of Yellow & Green and the bus accident that nearly ended us,” says frontman John Baizley. “We were unsure three years ago whether we’d be able to be at this point again; and while it hasn’t been a particularly easy road to get back, it is truly thrilling to feel that familiar anxious excitement that comes before we release a new album and to put new music out into the world. We treasure these moments of excitement, as they have taken on a deeper level of significance in recent years.”
“Shock Me” stands out immediately with a warm and infectious opening, while Baizley’s vocal lines and Thomson’s drumming drives the song forward with a frantic sense of stability. Fans of Yellow & Green will likely jump on “Shock Me” immediately, as we did.
Baroness also took some time to offer a statement on the terrorist attacks on Paris from this past weekend:
We are keenly aware that the tragic events of this past Friday have been covered in great detail online and on television; and there is very little we can add to the conversation, especially here on our facebook page. However, this horrifying and brutal attack did have a palpable effect on the immediate community of which we are part. In fact, we have personally spent time on tour with several of the musicians directly affected in one of the many the attacks.
While that fact alone doesn’t necessarily make this any more or less an issue for our band or our community of musicians (this is a global problem), the proximity we have to this tragedy gives us all the more reason to pause, take stock, and at the very least ask some difficult social/political/personal questions, many of which are likely to have no plausible answer. We have been through difficulties ourselves, and recent events make our perceived injuries seem pale and trivial by comparison.
We’d like to take a moment here to simply recognize and show our utmost sympathy and support for all those involved in the disastrous events of the 13th in Paris, and all other recent and related incidents around the world (there are too many to attempt to list here in a single post.) These words are likely to get lost in a great tide of online opinions, arguments, and statements. We are not trying to cover or address the full scope of things; but the fact is that this is one out of many horrible events that we’ve all borne witness to this year, many of which received far less coverage.
It leaves us confused, saddened, and angered. We all hope there will be some global and fundamental shift for the better in the near future, but for the time being, our hearts go out to everyone worldwide, who has felt the resulting pain of this brutality, both in Paris and abroad. It is far easier and more reasonable to be pessimistic in times like this, we can only hope that there is a contingency of hope left out there; and that something can be done to confront and contend with all these currently conflicting ideologies and acts of heartless extremism. There surely is no easy answer, but each one of us is capable of showing support, sympathy and love, if we so choose.
Thanks for the time it took you to read this.
Listen to Baroness’ “Shock Me” in the clip above. To check out Baroness’ upcoming 2015 U.S. tour dates, click here.
Source: Loudwire.com