| CD REVIEW Kylesa |
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Band: Kylesa This Savannah (Georgia, USA) based band was founded in September 2001 by former members from Damad (seminal Crust act which released two albums in the late ‘90s, following a couple of 7-inch EPs earlier that same decade). The original band (which took their name from “kilesa mara”, a Buddhist term for “demons of defilement and delusion”) was mainly a post-Damad thing, with singer/ guitarist Phillip Cope, bassist Brian Duke, and drummer Christian Depken being joined by singer/ guitarist Laura Pleasants. Following the release of a single and a split EP with Memento Mori (both released in early 2002, the first through Prank Records, the second through Hyperrealist), the band’s existence hung in the balance for a while, when Duke died of a seasure on the same night his contribution in the recordings for the band’s debut album were done. Shaken to their cores by the loss of their friend, it’s the though of him and the energy he had been putting in the band’s music, which would lead to the other goin’ on, knowing their dear friend would never have wanted the band to stop. Duke was replaced by singer/ bassist Corey Barhorst, Kylesa finished the recordings (released through Prank Records late that same year). Following a single (Delusion Of Fire/ Clutches, issued through Scorched Earth Policy), a split album with US punk act Cream Abdul Babar (an At A Loss release), and the early 2004 No Ending/ 110 Heat Index 4-track EP/ mini-CD (again a Prank release), Depken left, and recruiting Brandon Baltzley the band recorded their 2005 album To Walk A Middle Course (their first for Prosthetic, with a vinyl release through the Havoc imprint). Baltzley was replaced by a duo of drummers (Jeff Porter and Carl McGinely, the latter also to be responsible for handling a sampler during live shows for additional “noises”) after the recordings, and since then the band’s live sound has been characterized with this dual drum assault. Kylesa’s third and most recent full-length Time Will Fuse Its Worth, was released on Halloween 2006 (again with vinyl done by Havoc). Between the then and now, the band hasn’t exactly been idle, issuing the super-limited Skeletal double 7-inch EP, exchanging Porter with new second live drummer Eric Hernandez, and Barhorst by one javier Villegas (whom is apparently no longer with the band today, but díd contribute to the recordings of the new full-length)! The new piece de résistance of this peculiar band, was produced by Cope and recorded simultaneously in two studios in Columbia, SC. The use of two studios allowed Pleasants to experiment a little more with her guitar parts (after all, she plays better today than when the band started out). At the same time as Pleasants was expanding the band’s signature sound with the incorporation of more of their Rock and Psychedelic influences, Cope wanted to keep the overall sound accessible…not that he wanted the band to go Pop, but rather wanted Kylesa to come up with memorable songs, an album with a lasting impression! Well, I think the duo have pulled it off, both getting their wishes granted. With being together for a couple of years now, the duo has learned to fine-tune the other, and that shows in the end result! So wha’s it sound like? Hum…pretty difficult to describe! Sludge Metal would be the best description, and depending on the song you’ll find elements of Hardcore, Psychedelic Stoner Rock, Technical Speed Metal, and good old-fashioned Black Sabbath Sludge riffing combined in a down-tuned Avant-Garde experimentalism which is almost bound to attract any fan of the individual genres! The band also allows both Cope and Pleasants to perform the role of lead singer…with an emphasis on the first, though, which makes Pleasants’ more sedate and calm stylings (on the tracks “Running Red” –which is intro-ed with some nice piano play – and “Perception” – this one intro-ed with a bit of backwards played spoken word, the song actually a duet of sorts – the vocal parts being quite separate) the more “restive” moments on the album (Cope’s vocals usually being of the shouted/screamed variety which goes so well with the more energetic kind of Sludge). The time between albums, and the experiences from the past, have also made for a more rounded album…or as Cope puts it himself in the promo sheet: “It was definitively a lot more thought out. We have the hindsight of some mistakes we’ve made in the past, so we were trying to avoid making them again on this record. I think we came away from the expreience with our best stuff yet,” a statement in which Pleasants fully supports him! Personally, I reserve my thought on that, as I’ve yet to go out to the record store in an attempt to find as much of the band’s earlier material as I can find! Should be an interesting study goin’ through the older material, as Pleasants claims that all of their records sound pretty different (still, as I was already a fan of the band’s precursor, Damad, I believe there will be no negative surprises at all). You can get a whiff of the band’s music at myspace.com/kylesa, where the band posted three songs off the new album alongside the one remaining off the previous one! You’ll soon be able to listen to Kylesa music in live conditions, as following the termination of their US tour with Intronaut and Mastodon (should be right about the time when you’’re reading this), the guys (and lass) and a couple of late May gigs, the band will be touring Europe with Coalesce and Torche. Actually, the first gig on European soil will be in Belgium at Antwerp’s Trix venue on June 20. Then, it’s mainly off to Germany, but there’s also shows in the Czech Republic, Austria, Italy, France, and Holland (at the Trashfest in Hogeveen on June 21, and later again at Nijmegen’s FortaRock Warm Up festival on July 10), before roaming the British isles during July. For more details, consult the MySpace page, or the band’s own website kylesa.com. Meanwhile, all which is left for me to do, is to nominate Static Tensions into that “Best Albums Of 2009”-list of mine! Before closing off, I’d like to impart upon the fanatic Kylesa fans the fact that the simultaneously with the album, Prosthetic released a first 7-inch single culled off the album, featuring the album track “Unknown Awareness” onthe A-side, and the previously un-released “Drum Jam” on the flipside! 98/100 Tony. |