Review Summary: Impressive Debut from Sludge-Metal Titans
After Savannah sludge-metal act Damad split up in 2001, Kylesa rose from their ashes with the addition of guitarist Laura Pleasants, and in 2001 they commenced recording of their first LP – ‘Kylesa’ with the line-up of:
Brian Duke - Bass, Vocals
Philip Cope - Guitar, Vocals
Laura Pleasants - Guitar, Vocals
Christian Depken - Drums, Percussion
Kylesa played their first ever live show with Mastodon on June 2nd 2001, but several days later on June 6th Brian Duke tragically passed away due to an epileptic seizure. The rest of the band were determined to finish the recording and dedicated it to the life of Duke, with Corey Barhorst completing the remaining bass and vocal duties.
Like many other sludge-metal bands, Kylesa use a very low “dropped A” tuning to get a thick texture typical of the sludge-metal sound, and also incorporate elements of crust punk, stoner rock and psychedelic rock which makes them stand out from other bands such as Mastodon, Baroness and Neurosis.
As Pleasants, Cope and Barhorst all share the vocals they sculpt three very different types of music sections in Kylesa; Barhorst almost has a voice made for death metal with a low growl, Pleasants contributes a higher ranged scream and clean vocals (most prominent on ‘No Remorse’) and Cope brings out the more usual sludge metal growl.
The instrumentation and tone on this LP is near perfection – crusty but discernable, mainly due to the low budget of a debut record (which would become more polished by their 2009 release ‘Static Tensions’). The tone creates a slight wall of sound and is quite overwhelming in patches and the low end crushing bass is one of the high points of the LP.
The only thing about this LP that stops it becoming one of the best sludge-metal releases of the 2000s is the song writing. Sure there are some great songs such as; ‘No Remorse’, Ceaseless Becoming’ and ‘Descend Within’ but the rest of the album if fairly luke warm and the reader will notice some sense of “déj* vu”.
The Standout tracks on this debut LP are ‘No Remorse’ and the instrumental ‘Parent’s Song’. ‘No Remorse’ is a stunning opening song with the best of nearly everything contained into less than 3 minutes with great riffs, a terrifying low tone and a superb mix of clean/screamed vocals. But ‘Parent’s Song’ is where Kylesa show their ability to show variety with captivating acoustic guitar work, which gives the listener an opportunity to relax after the previous 28 minutes of relentless heaviness and then it builds progressively until it comes suddenly to a halt (I assume it leads into the next LP ‘To Walk a Middle Course’.
Overall this is a interesting record as it shows how one of the greatest Sludge-metal acts began and how they have progressed to release one of the best metal albums of 2009 – ‘Static Tensions’, which I recommend to anyone who enjoyed any part of this LP.
