When Baroness began recording what would become their new album, Stone, it was early on in the COVID-19 pandemic. The metal outfit was holed up in a remote cabin between New York City and Philadelphia, where they built a studio and did nothing but work on music.
“From start to finish, this was a DIY record,” said frontman John Baizley. “It wasn’t a particularly quick record to create, but it was most definitely by far the most independent piece of music that we’ve written.”
While being cut off from the outside world may have been a familiar pandemic story, Baizley is quick to note that the last thing Baroness wanted Stone to be was a “pandemic album.”
“There was no way that any of us were gonna let this be this melancholic record about isolation or whatever everybody else doing pandemic records was doing it about,” Baizley explains. “Even early in 2020, I was just like, ‘I think a lot of people are gonna put out mopey, bittersweet, bedroom-style records. If we’re gonna make this record ourselves, then it has to be amped.'”
Stone is certainly amped, both literally and in the figurative electricity generated by Baroness’ performances on the record. In between, you’ll also hear ambient noises from inside and outside the cabin, as well as various nonmusical expressions from the band members captured during the recording process.
“For this record, the character of the players was really critical to illustrate,” Baizley says. “The way we chose to play and develop this type of music on this record was more reactive, it’s more instinctual music.”
Stone will be released Friday, September 15. Baroness will launch a U.S. tour in support of Stone in October.
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