BARONESS' YELLOW & GREEN CONFIRMED FOR JULY 17 RELEASE

Baroness, the Savannah-based quartet whose two prior releases (Red Album and Blue Record) were awarded record of the year honors from both Revolver and Decibel Magazines as well as repeatedly placing on year-end best of lists from Pitchfork and Village Voice, return with a new album titled Yellow & Green on July 17 via Relapse Records.

Yellow & Green reunites Baroness with Blue Record producer John Congleton (Explosions in the Sky, St. Vincent, Xiu Xiu) following both the band's busiest period (multiple worldwide tours including stops at Coachella, Bonnaroo and Soundwave) and most luxurious year, having taken nearly all of 2011 off to freely write and demo for the 2CD/LP album.

"We had been on tour for eight years, and we decided to take a break from our adventure to dig our heels in at home and write a new record," explains John Baizley, front man for the band and the artist responsible for Baroness' now iconic album art (an article profiling Baizley as a graphic artist is in the April edition of Juxtapoz). "We spent the entirety of the past year dedicating ourselves to the new album. Without the break from touring and the time we took to rest and reflect, we would have been entirely unable to write this new record.. We have become re-inspired. Now it's time to get back out on the road."

Baizley also recently spoke with Alternative Press regarding the recording of Yellow & Green, which can be read here.

Baroness embark on their first tour dates since 2010 as they join Meshuggah for a Spring trek across North America, previewing material from Yellow & Green. Tour dates are:

April 25 Columbus, OH Ace of Cups *

April 26 St. Louis, MO Firebird *

April 27 Nashville, TN The End *

April 29 Houston, TX House of Blues

April 30 Dallas, TX House of Blues

May 1 Austin, TX Emo's East

May 3 Tempe, AZ Marquee Theatre

May 4 Anaheim, CA House of Blues

May 5 West Hollywood, CA House of Blues

May 6 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore

May 8 Vancouver, BC Commodore Ballroom

May 9 Seattle, WA Showbox at the Market

May 11 Denver, CO Ogden Theatre

May 13 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue

May 15 Chicago, IL House of Blues

May 16 Detroit, MI St. Andrew's Hall

May 17 Toronto, ON Sound Academy

May 18 Philadelphia, PA Theatre of Living Arts

May 19 Worcester, MA The Palladium

May 20 Montreal, QC Olympia de Montreal

May 22 Silver Spring, MD The Fillmore Silver Spring

May 23 New York, NY Terminal 5

* = Baroness headlines, Royal Thunder opens

Baroness is John Baizley (guitars, vocals), Pete Adams (guitar, vocals), Allen Blickle (drums) and Matt Maggioni (bass).

Yellow & Green track listing and album art to be revealed soon.

Royal Thunder Share New Song; Pre-Order Details, Cover Art and Tour Dates w/ Baroness

Royal Thunder has a lyric video for "Whispering World," a new song from their forthcoming album, CVI (Relapse, May 22), available on their Facebook page (facebook.com/royalthundermusic).

The co-ed Atlanta quartet will join label mates Baroness for a trio of dates later this month kicking off on Apr. 25 in Columbus at the Ace of Cups. Royal Thunder will also perform a hometown show on Decibel Magazine's May 2 tour stop at The Masquerade.

CVI is now available for pre-order via www.relapse.com/label/cvi-cd.html

Royal Thunder tour dates:

April 25 Columbus, OH Ace of Cups *

April 26 St. Louis, MO Firebird *

April 27 Nashville, TN The End *

May 2 Atlanta, GA The Masquerade **

 

* = w/Baroness

** = w/Behemoth, Watain, The Devil's Blood (Decibel Magazine Tour)

 

CVI follows an incredibly well-received EP debut in late 2010 which won praise from a wide variety of outlets including Paste Magazine ("blues-infused rock'n'roll, wrapped in protective barbed-metal packaging"), NPR ("a revved-up Southern hard-rocker that howls like Led Zeppelin astride a psychedelic unicorn") Brooklyn Vegan ("Johnette Napolitano of Concrete Blonde fronting Black Sabbath") and Terrorizer ("'Royal Thunder' grabs you right from the first listen").

 

CVI track listing:

1. Parsonz Curse

2. Whispering World

3. Shake and Shift

4. No Good

5. Blue

6. Sleeping Witch

7. South of Somewhere

8. Drown

9. Minus

10. Black Water Vision

 

SCION A/V RELEASES LEAD TRACK FROM MESHUGGAH'S KOLOSS

Scion A/V has partnered with Sweden’s extreme, technical metal band MESHUGGAH to bring fans an exclusive digital music download, limited edition 7”, behind-the-scenes footage from their upcoming North American tour, and a concert ticket giveaway. MESHUGGAH’s forthcoming album, KOLOSS, is set for a North American release on March 27^th via Nuclear Blast. The lead track “I Am Colossus” is available to download now for free at scionav.com/meshuggah.

MESHUGGAH drummer Tomas Haake comments on the opening track:

“‘I Am Colossus’ is way more straightforward than the thrash metal we grew up with. At the same time, it does pose its own difficulties for us as players. It will probably be one of the first songs we attempt to play on tour. The solo - which is basically two long notes that are slow bends - just turned out beautiful. Such an understatement as a guitar solo. Sometimes a slow song is just as aggressive as a fast one.”

A limited edition 7” will be available in black, clear, yellow, and white vinyl, and given away for free on MESHUGGAH’s upcoming tour, courtesy of Scion A/V.

“The opportunity to work with Meshuggah is something we’re very excited about,” says Jeri Yoshizu, manager of sales promotion for Scion. “As we continue to evolve our metal initiatives, a collaboration with a band this talented is a logical next step.”

MESHUGGAH is headlining “SCION A/V PRESENTS: The Ophidian Trek” tour with guests BARONESS & DECAPITATED, which kicks off April 29^th. Confirmed dates are:

4/29/12 House of Blues - Houston, TX

4/30/12 House of Blues - Dallas, TX

5/01/12 Emo’s - Austin, TX

5/03/12 Marquee Theatre - Tempe, AZ

5/04/12 House of Blues - Anaheim, CA

5/05/12 House of Blues - Hollywood, CA

5/06/12 The Fillmore - San Francisco, CA

5/08/12 Commodore Ballroom - Vancouver, B.C. – CANADA

5/09/12 Showbox Sodo - Seattle, WA

5/11/12 Odgen Theatre - Denver, CO

5/13/12 First Avenue - Minneapolis, MN

5/15/12 House of Blues - Chicago, IL

5/16/12 St. Andrews Hall - Detroit, MI

5/17/12 Sound Academy - Toronto, ON – CANADA

5/18/12 Theatre of the Living Arts - Philadelphia, PA

5/19/12 Palladium - Worcester, MA

5/20/12 Olympia de Montreal - Montreal, QUE – CANADA

5/22/12 The Fillmore - Silver Springs, MD

5/23/12 Terminal 5 – New York, NY

Scion A/V will be periodically releasing behind-the-scenes video footage from the band during the tour via their Facebook page, a first from a band that is typically shrouded in secrecy and rarely gives interviews.

Additionally, a ticket giveaway to two winners will be done in each city along the tour via the ScionAV Twitter (@ScionAV) beginning March 21^st. Each winner in each tour city will receive 1 free pair of tickets to the show. Sweepstakes instructions will be given March 21^st on @ScionAV Twitter.