The Morningside - Yellow

 

The soft and bittersweet consonance of post-rock, the droning of depressive doom metal, and progressively-minded arrangements are three elements that shouldn't sonically "play nice" on paper. Moscow's own The Morningside shows with their latest album, Yellow, that not only can the aforementioned elements co-exist in the same thought but that they also can be separate components that make a much greater whole, one that is truly unique.

Review: Baroness - Yellow & Green

Yellow & Green, the third full-length album from southern sludgesters Baroness, has found itself on a lot of “Most Anticipated Albums of the Year” lists, and for good reason.  Yellow & Green was announced as a double album, which meant twice as much Baroness as expected, and the band’s first two records, Red and Blue were hailed as filling the void in sludgy heavy metal left by Mastodon’s divergence into prog territory; also they were great albums that showcased the band’s impressive skills.  And so the excitement has been building steadily for Yellow & Green for very nearly a year, with fans excited to rejoice is what was sure to be another sludge masterpiece.  But then something weird happened.  People who had listened to the album began using words like “poppy” and “radio-friendly” to describe it.  The first song Baroness released from the album, “Take My Bones Away,” featured harmonious vocals in place of the beastly bellows of lead singer John Baizley, and the next two (“March to the Sea” and “Eula”) followed suit.  Was it a joke?  Was Baroness sacrificing their place in metal’s royal lineage for the safety of radio rock? Were people jumping to ridiculous conclusions after reading reviews and hearing only a sixth of Yellow & Green’s music?

Get the answers to these questions after the jump…