by Eduardo Rivadavia

A Grey Sigh in a Flower Husk is a split EP pairing up two of Savannah, Georgia's most respected, early new millennium metal bands: meteoric upstarts Baroness and comparative local veterans Unpersons -- at a point when their career trajectories appear headed in somewhat opposite directions. For Baroness, the two songs featured here cap four years of activity and building acclaim for their Mastodon-meets-Neuroris-inspired progressive sludge-metal. Opener "Teiresias," in particular, supplies a promising glimpse of their impending debut full-length's controlled instrumental chaos, while the meandering, twelve-minute "Cavité" shows even greater range, but may lose a few listeners to distraction along the way. As for Unpersons, their gonzo brand of post-Jesus Lizard noise rock, topped with drunken, slurred vocals, still sounds rather compelling when backed by semi-distinctive riffs and melodies (see "Number," "Dry Hand"), but other cuts can't shake an overall ‘been there, done that' feeling of anachronism. Whether or not the two bands' paths ever cross again beyond their hometown city limits, though, this pairing does shed some interesting insight into the comings and goings within Savanna's vibrant extreme music scene.