In a city not exactly known for metal pilgrimages, May 13, 2025 in downtown Albany was a revelation. While the larger Empire Live space upstairs echoed with the fervent chants of a sold-out Fountains D.C. crowd, below street level, something far more tectonic was occurring.
The low-ceilinged Empire Underground, often more dive than destination, was transformed into a makeshift cathedral of sonic worship, incense replaced by the faint waft of alleyway garbage, and pews by a sea of black shirts. At its altar stood Baroness, who offered up Red and Blue, two of modern metal’s most revered albums in their entirety.
But first, the congregation was summoned by Dawn of Ouroboros, an Oakland/Seattle based act that has carved a cult following with their heady brew of blackgaze, progressive death, and atmospheric metal. A project spearheaded by female vocalist/screamer Chelsea Murphy and guitarist Tony Thomas (who also works as a molecular biologist), their set was both vicious and graceful.
While Chelsea’s distinctive vocals both scathe and soothe, the music was an elemental tide of blast beats, clean passages, and haunting shifts from ethereal to searing. Lyrically, their material delved deep into the oceans, drawing on themes of bioluminescence and alchemical transformation. If their sound was as expansive as the sea, their performance was the storm at its center. Beautiful, terrifying, and utterly immersive. Then came Baroness.
For those unfamiliar a Baroness is a title of nobility, but there’s nothing aristocratic about the Savannah, Georgia-born band’s thunderous, sweat-drenched live energy. Formed in 2003 by vocalist and rhythm guitarist John Dyer Baizley, the group has evolved significantly over the years, yet Baizley remains its enduring creative heart. He’s not just the frontman but also a visual artist responsible for the band’s iconic album art and tour merch, prints of which were eagerly snapped up at the merch booth, where Baizley himself would later linger to sign items and chat with fans, cementing his reputation as both an artist and everyman.
This band’s musical style is impossible to pin down neatly. Within a single track, Baroness can shift from doom-laden sludge to punk aggression to spacey post-rock. On “Wanderlust,” Gina Gleason’s soaring solos cut through the mix with precision and fire. Since joining in 2017 after Peter Adams’ departure, Gleason has proven herself more than a replacement; she’s become an essential piece of the band’s modern identity. A former Cirque du Soleil performer, her theatrical presence and technical prowess lit up the stage, blending seamlessly with Baizley’s gravel-throated howls and Sebastian Thomson’s galloping drumwork. Bassist Nick Jost, donning a King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard tee, brought a warm, jazzy low-end that grounded the band’s more ethereal moments. Along with Thomson (both joined in 2013), this rhythm section provided the glue in Baroness’ ever-shifting structures. Tight yet fluid, aggressive yet nuanced, the current lineup is the band at its best.
The crowd at Empire Underground was a diverse cross-section of diehards, curious newcomers, and the occasional headbanging parent with a teenager in tow. Tuesday’s setlist was a rare treat: the entirety of 2007’s Red Album followed by 2009’s Blue Record played front to back. Red Album, a debut that announced Baroness with bludgeoning clarity, earned “Album of the Year” honors from Revolver magazine and remains a genre-defining work of progressive sludge metal. Its follow-up, Blue Record, pushed even further. Its sonic architecture richer, its emotional depths deeper, as Baroness began exploring themes of transformation, decay, and transcendence through waves of punishing riffs and delicate melodies.
In Baroness’ music, beauty and brutality coexist. Moments of other-worldly psychedelia laced between thunderous walls of distortion, an interplay of chaos and calm. There was a reverent hush during quiet interludes and a frenzied release when the band launched into songs like “The Birthing” and my personal favorite of the night, “A Horse Called Golgotha.” Fans shouted every lyric, some visibly emotional as Red’s “Rays on Pinion” or Blue’s “Swollen and Halo” filled the room. Touching on themes of rebirth, resilience, destruction, and healing, these songs resonate because they are deeply human, filtered through a mythic, often surreal lens. It’s no wonder the band inspires such devotion.
As the final notes rang out and the crowd began to spill into the cool Albany night, there was a palpable (and deafening) sense of shared catharsis. In a night where Empire Live hosted not one but two transcendent performances, Baroness proved that metal’s most powerful moments don’t always require arenas or stadiums. Sometimes, all it takes is a dark basement, a few hundred believers, and a band willing to bare everything.
Baroness | May 13, 2025 | Empire Underground | Albany, NY
Set 1 (Red): Rays on Pinion, The Birthing, Isak, Wailing Wintry Wing, Cockroach En Fleur, Wanderlust, Aleph, Teeth of a Cogwheel, O’Appalachia, Grad
Set 2 (Blue): Bullhead’s Psalm, The Sweetest Curse, Jake Leg, Steel That Sleeps the Eye, Swollen and Halo, Ogeechee Hymnal, A Horse Called Golgotha, O’er Hell and Hid, War, Wisdom and Rhyme, Blackpowder Orchard, The Gnashing, Bullhead’s Lament.
Dawn of Ouroboros
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