Baroness announce new album and tour dates, drop new single

Baroness are back with their highly-anticipated sixth album, “Stone”, on September 15, via Abraxan Hymns. You can pre-order it here.

Guitarist/Vocalist John Baizley shared:

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.

That voluntary evolution brought the now Philadelphia-meets-Brooklyn based band to the border town of Barryville, N.Y. Electing to self-produce “Stone”, 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 the album 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).

Drummer Seabastian Thomsen shared:

The recording process was completely self-contained. 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.

Guitarist Gina Gleason adds:

I think we were able to strip everything away on this record. 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.

The band offer a preview of the stirring new album with today’s release of “Last Word“, and its accompanying bassist Nick Jost-directed video.

Jost explains:

I had been developing this process for video and animation, and this being our first self-produced album, we thought ‘why not extend that ethos to the video, too?’. It was really nerve racking to direct and create my first music video, but having a lifetime of nightmares and a love for strange animation turned out to be very useful.

You can watch the video below:

“Stone” tracklist:

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

Baroness have also announced the “Sweet Oblivion Tour,” a seven-week trek that sees the band traversing North America this fall. Tickets go on sale June 23, at 10:00 AM local time, with Baroness bringing along some of their favorite bands including Jesus Piece, Portrayal of Guilt, Primitive Man, KEN Mode, Wayfarer, Chat Pile, Vile Creature, Soul Glo, Sheer Mag, Escuela Grind, Midwife, Hoaxed, Empire State Bastard, Cloud Rat, Imperial Triumphant, Uniform and Agriculture, with more support acts to be announced.

You can get tickets here.

You can check out the tour dates below:

Oct 13 Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Soundstage #
Oct 14 Richmond, VA @ The Canal Club #
Oct 15 Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel #
Oct 17 Tampa, FL @ The Ritz Ybor #
Oct 18 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade #
Oct 20 Dallas, TX @ The Echo Lounge & Music Hall $
Oct 21 Houston, TX @ House of Blues $
Oct 22 Austin, TX @ Empire Control Room & Garage $
Oct 24 Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater %
Oct 25 Mesa, AZ @ Nile Theater %
Oct 27 Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory ^
Oct 28 Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether ^
Oct 29 Berkeley, CA @ The UC Theatre Taube Family Music Hall ^
Oct 31 Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre &
Nov 03 Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile *
Nov 04 Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre *
Nov 06 Edmonton, AB @ Union Hall *
Nov 07 Calgary, AB @ The Palace Theatre *
Nov 09 Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot !
Nov 11 Denver, CO @ Summit !
Nov 12 Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room Lounge !
Nov 14 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue ##
Nov 15 Chicago, IL @ The Vic Theatre ##
Nov 17 Columbus, OH @ The King of Clubs $$
Nov 18 Detroit, MI @ St. Andrew’s Hall %%
Nov 19 Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall $$
Nov 20 Montreal, QC @ Théâtre Beanfield $$
Nov 22 Albany, NY @ Empire Live ^^
Nov 24 Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theater & Ballroom ^^
Nov 25 Pittsburgh, PA @ Roxian Theatre ^^
Nov 26 Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom ^^
Nov 28 Boston, MA @ Royale **
Nov 29 New York, NY @ Webster Hall **
Dec 01 Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer ***

# – with Jesus Piece and Escuela Grind
$ – with Portrayal of Guilt and Escuela Grind
% – with Primitive Man and Midwife
^ – with Primitive Man, Midwife and Agriculture
& – with KEN Mode and Hoaxed
* – with KEN Mode and Empire State Bastard
! – with Wayfarer and Empire State Bastard
## – with Chat Pile and Empire State Bastard
$$ – with Vile Creature
%% – with Vile Creature and CLoud Rat
^^ – with Soul Glo
&& – Soul Glo and Cloud Rat
** – Imperial Triumphant and Sheer Mag
*** – with Sheer Mag and Uniform