As the cover of Red Album suggests, Baroness are unusually elegant for a stoner metal band. The guitars often have a very clear sound to them. The riffs are catchy and powerful as they march and stomp along in unison. They don’t overdo it with the progressive elements and add just enough to make each song distinctive.

An intelligently composed first album by an already experienced band that knows exactly what they’re doing. An impressive debut. My issue is that the production of Red Album is too clean-sounding and everything mixed at too equal a level. Some parts want to be louder, some parts want to be sludgier. This needs more dynamics, along with the follow-up album, Blue Record.