Kylesa - 2011 Live at Hellfest

Band : Kylesa

Album : Live at Hellfest

Release Year : 2011

Genre : Hardcore | Sludge

 

Tracklist :

01 Do not Look Back
02 Unknown Awareness
03 Said And Done
04 Tired Climb
05 Distance Closing In
06 Bottom Line
07 Forsaken
08 Crowded Road
09 Running Red

Apart from the jaws of ten meters long by Philip and his vocal performance limit-limit, the concert was a great time Kylesa has once again confirmed what we think of this unique group: this is a pure product of Savannah that s' is largely emancipated by dint of developments and remarkable album to a level that makes him something other than just hype. The home is once again under the Imperial Tent Terrorizer, especially with regard to Laura (vocals, scratches), which shows in great shape, just like Corey (bass), block throughout the show. The Kylesa are not great singers, in fact, they fear squarely at that level, but the scope of their music is epic soon forget this tiny detail. Tribal psyche, melodic rock and roll and sometimes prog, metal of these five is all that it takes to make great concerts and tonight's setlist, which contains most of the titles of two recent albums " Static Tension "and" Spiral Shadow "shows the extent of their talent. It starts on the intro very punk roulette "Do not Look Back" that conceals filches happens behind the float, as are many highlights during the show as the huge break Tribal "Crowded Road" which sees Philip ask guitar violent percussion backing of these two colleagues drummers. Big time heavy metal and trance floydienne as "Running Red" served right after: OUCH! The concert ends with a "Severe Hollow" conqueror to finish on a note of bestiality mass that puts the public agrees: Kylesa's heavy, it's good Kylesa, Kylesa is like a good cheese fondue with mushrooms in it. (Thib)

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Kylesa - 2009 Static Tensions

Band : Kylesa

Album : Static Tensions

Release Year : 2009

Genre : Hardcore | Sludge

 

Tracklist :

1. Scapegoat
2. Insomnia For Months
3. Said and Done
4. Unknown Awareness
5. Running Red
6. Nature's Predators
7. Almost Lost
8. Only One
9. Perception
10. To Walk Alone

Metal, as an overall genre, is extremely difficult to pin down. Perhaps that is the purpose of the genre- to avoid the classifications that marginalized punk and commoditized grunge. Due to the ambiguity of the genre, it is a magnificent event when a band creates an album that defies all marginalization, all accusations of blandness and unoriginality that often plague metal and modern music as a whole. These albums must retain the aspects that make metal what it is: the fury, the sonic assault, and the grand instrumental showmanship. This, however, must be balanced with a creative ear for the new- that is to say, the shape of metal to come.

Kylesa have crafted ten songs that combine four decades worth of boiling anger: from the psychedelic, drug-addled musings of 60's guitar pioneers, to the groundbreaking thrash of Slayer and the sludge of Acid Bath, Kylesa leave no musical rock unturned. The opening song on Static Tensions- 'Scapegoat'- has an almost hardcore vibe, followed by a guitar-phaser fueled breakdown that adds a tension to the sonic assault. 'Unknown Awareness' furthers the psychedelic vibe of the album, with the guitars crafting patterns that swirl around the pounding, pseudo-tribal drum beat. Standout track 'Running Red' is the most obviously metal of the bunch: the group directly tribute Black Sabbath, and do so in the most fitting way possible. The guitars roar, and the song is about as catchy as metal gets. On album closer 'To Walk Alone', the band seems to go beyond a wall of sound, almost fusing with a music in a way usually reserved for post-rock bands. The guitars reach for the sky, and the drums drag them back down. Somewhere in the chaos, a voice reverberates like a yell during a hurricane. The voice isn't in vain; it is in fact somewhat necessary to prove that life is still here, that the musicians are in fact separate from the music.

This album is, first of all, metal. It is unmercifully heavy, with the practically zero filler or unnecessary tracks. The brutality is fused with an unmistakable confidence, as if the band knew they were creating something to be admired. The down-tuned guitars, the shimmering cymbals: every sound seems to be part of a greater whole, wrapping decades of music around the rusty spike of modern- or what is to become modern- metal.

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Kylesa - 2009 Unknown Awareness 7"

Band : Kylesa

Album : Unknown Awareness 7"

Release Year : 2009

Genre : Hardcore | Sludge

 

Tracklist :

1. Unknown Awareness
2. Drum Jam

One time pressing of 1000. 400 color, 600 black. very limited tour edition of this single available only from the band at the NY shows with Amebix at the end of January 2009. The tour edition is limited to only 36 copies and is packaged in a two color screen printed cover. Enjoy!!

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Cream Abdul Babar and Kylesa - 2003 Split

Band : Cream Abdul Babar and Kylesa

Album : Split

Release Year : 2003

Genre : Hardcore | Sludge | Noise | Experimental

Tracklist :

 Cream Abdul Babar
1. Cocaine Pinata
2. Rose in the Mouth
3. Shiss
4. Troy: Sailor

Kylesa
5. The Curse of Lost Days, Part 1
6. The Curse of Lost Days, Part 2
7. The Curse of Lost Days, Part 3
8. The Curse of Lost Days, Part 4
9. The Curse of Lost Days, Part 5

The jury’s still deliberating on whether the name Cream Abdul Babar is either creative and cool or creative and lame. Regardless of the verdict, it’s good to discover that the music that the band plays is as eclectic and curious as its moniker. Cream Abdul Babar has feet kinda sorta in the metalcore and sludge genres, but at the same time avoids being strongly classified as such.

So it’s metalcore hardness, but when the fuzzed out keyboards appear, matching the equally fuzzed out vocals, it’s bliss out time that the above mentioned genres don’t generally supply. It’s heavy and seemingly simple and catchy enough to get into right away, but as you listen more and more, further technicality reveals itself to keep renewing the interest. Kind of weird and original on the level of Horse the Band, but not nearly as spastic and busy.

Kylesa’s half sounds like a mellower collaboration between Old Man Gloom and Today is the Day. Like the former, Kylesa peppers the music that is most closely dropped in the hardcore/ metalcore genre with sections of ambient noise and drone from guitar and electronics. And like Old Man Gloom (particularly the Seminar II album), the noise is anything but: soothing, engaging, meditative, and definitely creative and original, even to the band being compared to.

Much of Kylesa’s vocals sound like those effected, high, twisted, banshee-like, choral vocals that Steve Austin uses in Today is the Day, particularly on the In the Eyes of God record. The result here is also kind of unsettling, but like the music, much less angst and psychosis is conveyed. The comparison to Today is the Day also extends to the music, which is reminds of Today’s older albums: more square and slow and deliberate. But as stated before, Kylesa doesn’t have nearly as large a bone to pick with life as Austin and co., and when the fuzzy instrumental noise track ends off the split CD, you’ll be feeling refreshed and ready for another listen.

 

 

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Kylesa - 2010 Spiral Shadow

Band : Kylesa

Album : Spiral Shadow

Release Year : 2010

Genre : Hardcore / Sludge

 

Tracklist:

1. Tired Climb
2. Cheating Synergy
3. Drop Out
4. Crowded Road
5. Don’t Look Back
6. Distance Closing In
7. To Forget
8. Forsaken
9. Spiral Shadow
10. Back and Forth
11. Dust

Already being labelled by some as the “best metal album for 2010,” this fifth studio product from band, Kylesa, hailing from America’s south is at the forefront of a genre coined as “Dixie” (obviously a reference to the band’s roots in Georgia). If this was a brand new band hitting the scene, then I would probably rate the album slightly differently, but knowing that Kylesa have a long history, I did some digging to gain a reference for this album versus its other offerings.
Right from the outset with 'Tired Climb,' Spiral Shadow is ripping out an appealing collection of riff heavy, psychedelic stoner rock. It lacks some of the heavier Mastodon references that were present in their earlier work but is way more in keeping with last year’s release, Static Tensions - particularly with the monotone, slightly creepy vocals of Laura Pleasants.
Spacey sounds alongside fuzzy guitars and military precision drums follow with 'Cheating Synergy.' This track also steps away from the droning female vocals and leans towards angst-ridden outbursts. The album is full of thundering punk/sludge orientated riffs and melodic bridges. More anthemic pieces come from 'Drop Out' and 'Crowded Road.' The interesting use of two drummers is rare and should also be appreciated. It gives each song such intensity, especially when backed by ominous guitar work. Tracks like 'Don’t Look Back' have elements of inoffensive alternative, dare I say it verging on commercial aspects. You can’t get comfortable with Spiral Shadow as it takes you for a literal trip from tormented psychedelia to hard, rocking metal. Perhaps this is Kylesa making a statement and trying to step out of the shadows of their contemporaries Baroness and Mastodon with a real mash up of references and influences?
All in all Spiral Shadows is an epic album that I’m sure will have the band standing tall for some time to come and have fans captivated at festivals next summer.

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