Baroness will release its sixth album, “Stone”, on September 15 via Abraxan Hymns. Today they have shared the third single from the eagerly-awaited collection, “Shine”. Listen below.
The track is the third pre-release single from the Philadelphia-meets-Brooklyn foursome, with the band previously sharing “Last Word,” featuring what Guitar World described as “2023’s most jaw-dropping metal solo,” and “Beneath The Rose,” which Consequence dubbed one of the year’s “hard rock anthems.” Both of the tracks featured videos created by the band members, with Nick Jost crafting “Last Word,” and the full band participating in the dazzling clip for “Beneath The Rose.”
Baizley previously commented about the album: “An important through line in Baroness is we don’t like to repeat ourselves. It’s all about the willingness to take risks. When I was younger, the whole point of music was to be different, not to do the same thing, and not to listen to parents or play by the rules. That’s kind of goofy, but in practice, it works. It’s really sort of terrifying to be at the sixth record in your career and think that you’ll have to keep up with your history rather than continually invent. So, we doubled down on continuously inventing to see where it takes us. I think this record is a good reflection of that. ‘Stone’ is a lot more alive, more direct.”
Baroness have also expanded the slate of openers joining them for the “Sweet Oblivion Tour,” with Hoaxed, Destiny Bond, Spotlights and Zorn added to the already eye-popping group of support artists. Curated by the band themselves, the seven-week trek has become heavy music’s most diverse and interesting tours of 2023, with previously announced bands including Jesus Piece, Portrayal of Guilt, Primitive Man, KEN Mode, Wayfarer, Chat Pile, Vile Creature, Soul Glo, Sheer Mag, Escuela Grind, Midwife, Imperial Triumphant, Uniform, Agriculture and Cloud Rad. Tickets are on-sale now AT THIS LOCATION.
That voluntary evolution brought the now Philadelphia-meets-Brooklyn based band to the border town of Barryville, New York. Electing to produce “Stone” themselves, the members of Baroness spent a month shrouded amidst the pines, holed up in a vacation rental that became an impromptu recording space replete with big, vaulted ceilings, hardwood floors, and brick/glass walls. While they wrote “Stone”, Baizley recorded and pre-mixed it in real time, giving each song on “Stone” its own sonic treatment. After the group finished tracking drums, guitars, and bass, they took everything back to Baizley‘s basement studio to record vocals before handing the album off to mix master Joe Barresi (Kyuss, Tool) and mastering guru Bob Ludwig (Led Zeppelin, Nirvana).
“The recording process was completely self-contained,” adds drummer Sebastian Thomsen. “Having just the four of us in a rented house in the mountains for a month resulted in not only a cohesive and authentic sound, but also an intense collective mentality.”
“I think we were able to strip everything away on this record,” guitarist Gina Gleason shares. “We were unified in that. So, we just jumped in and did our best. That felt really good. It was a really cool, empowering, creative experience.”
“Stone” pre-orders and pre-saves are available now. The album features original cover art by John Baizley and is available on a variety of formats, including an indie exclusive LP and ten limited-edition custom vinyl variants themed after each song on the album and designed by Baizley himself, as well as CD, a limited-edition deluxe CD featuring a bonus disc of live tracks recorded on the “Your Baroness” tour, and a limited blue cassette.
“Stone” track listing:
1. Embers
2. Last Word
3. Beneath The Rose
4. Choir
5. The Dirge
6. Anodyne
7. Shine
8. Magnolia
9. Under The Wheel
10. Bloom
