31.7. BARONESS / MORKOBOT |

Baroness formed in 2003 in Savannah, GA, comprised of a group of friends who grew up together in Lexington, VA, a small town in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Shortly after their formation, the band released two EPs and a split EP with Unpersons entitled respectively, First, Second and A Grey Sigh in a Flower Husk. From their origin right through the release of these EPs, BARONESS toured non-stop throughout America and Europe, building up a steady underground fan base.

In late 2006, the band began working on their first proper full-length, and debut for Relapse, Red Album. Recorded by Philip Cope (Kylesa), the album was a big step forward from the band’s earlier material; they began to develop a sense of melody and song structure as a counter-balance to the EP’s brute intensity. The release of Red Album saw the band touring world-wide and year-round for the next two years. The record received high critical praise, eventually garnering the #1 Album-of-the-Year slot in Revolver Magazine

In between tours, and exactly two years after writing Red Album, BARONESS returned to the studio to record a follow-up record. The band enlisted the help of Grammy-nominated engineer/producer John Congleton (Explosions in the Sky, St. Vincent, Black Mountain, etc.). In 2009, Relapse released Blue Record, another comprehensive step forward for the band’s ever-evolving sound. The record continued the band’s growing sense of melody while directing the focus to an “album-as-an-art-form” concept. Blue Record was named 2009’s Album-of-the-Year by Decibel Magazine, and made an impact on the Best-Of lists in publications as varied as Pitchfork, Village Voice, PopMatters, Revolver, Rock Sound and Metal Hammer.

BARONESS’ mission statement has always been simple: keep an open mind, confront challenges, avoid repetition and take the music to diverse audiences. BARONESS toured constantly and extensively for two years straight with Blue Record, sharing the stage with such bands as METALLICA, MASTODON, DEFTONES, and ISIS. The band also played a variety of festivals, including Coachella (US), Oya (Norway), Bonnaroo (US) and Soundwave (AUS).

Baroness took the year off in 2011 for the first time in nearly a decade in order to focus on writing a new and more challenging third full-length. After a year of writing and refining, the band entered Water Music Studios in Hoboken, NJ with co-producer John Congleton to record Yellow & Green. Tracked in both Hoboken and Congleton’s own Elmwood Studio in Dallas, TX, the new full-length will be released on July 17^th.

http://baronessmusic.com/

Morkobot is a totally suggestive instrumental sonic monster. A magmatic and liquid atmosphere lead the listener to a psychedelic and caotic world in which vibrations become dense like glue, light and darkness are continuosly turning in a nonstop changing lysergic noise: moments of raw power suddenly replace those with softer, deliberate arrangements, and viceversa.

Musically, this italian trio is the perfect middle point between robotic mechanisms (the term ‘robot rock’ comes to mind) and organic humanity.

2011 marks the return of MoRkObOt, bringing forth their heaviest, most focused and most adventurous music ever. Enter, Morbo…

After the previous one track album Morto, Morbo (latin for disease) consists of seven cacophonous songs in which the psychedelic attitude of the first Trilogy (Morkobot – Mostro – Morto albums) is dried to expose the bones and nerves of a more intricate, but at the same time more straightforward and focused music, skilfully assembled by the two bass guitars and drum-kit. The result is a raw yet complex low-end sound, interesting to hear as the spectrum of it becomes pure and essential so that Morbo will modify quickly the way You’re used to hear music…