Baroness - 'A Horse Called Golgotha'

Baroness is one of the best metal bands today. Descendents are one of the most important punk bands of all time. When Baroness announced that they would include a cover of Descendents’ classic “Bikeage” on their new seven-inch, I was surprised but excited. And while the result doesn’t quite meet my expectations, it’s still a nice curiosity for fans of both bands.

“A Horse Called Golgotha” opens the colored vinyl, taken from the group’s most excellent 2009 effort Blue Record. It’s an awesome single with a Tool Lite music video. Everything about this song is amazing – the thick riffs, the humungous drum sound, the barking vocals. It’s muscular but jammy. I get so excited when Allen Blickle pulls out a dance beat for a few measures simply because he can. This song is good. It does not sound like Descendents.

“Bikeage,” however, sounds disconcertingly like Descendents. There’s the same snotty vocals, that walking bass line, everything. It’s a thoroughly faithful cover, although it could be a hair faster. Which is somewhat disappointing. I was hoping for a 10-minute riff fest. I wanted something that completely re-imagined/desecrated “Bikeage,” even though I gave Dirty Projectors tons of grief for doing the same thing with Black Flag a few years ago. Still, after a few listens, this cover has grown on me. It’s not as good as the original (or the Face to Face version), but it’s appealing to those of us who enjoy metal and pop-punk, which is probably what drew the members of Baroness to the song in the first place.