Kylesa - Ultraviolet
Kylesa are a heavy metal quintet from
Savannah, Georgia and they specialize in dense and elaborate metal
that overwhelms the senses. The new album Ultraviolet, just
like every one of their albums before it, is a headbanger's dream.
Long hair and resilient neck muscles were made for much such as this.
While their previous record, Spiral Shadow, embraced prog and
psychedelic rock Ultraviolet is far more streamlined and aims
to accomplish more rocking out in a smaller time frame.
The call and response of opening track
'Exhale' owes a debt to, of all things, the Beastie Boys, and reminds
us that both bands started out in their respective hardcore scenes.
Kylesa's hardcore roots shine through again later on the enraged
chorus of 'We're Taking This'. Not everything is speaker-breakingly
loud but always heavy. Sometimes the heaviness is abrupt and in your
face and at other times it takes the form of a powerful stoned haze
as on closing track 'Drifting'. Every successive Kylesa album adds
some new hues to their colour palette. 'Unspoken' dips its toes into
turgid industrial gothic-ness, like Depeche Mode shaking pale hands
with Neurosis.
Via singers Phillip Cope and Laura
Pleasants, the voice of Kylesa is multifaceted and androgynous. All
instruments lurch and writhe in unison, all dancing to the same
demented muse. Most metal acts try to achieve that pummeling,
shock-to-the-system sound in post-production and the results are
uniformly lacking. Kylesa have made their sonic pyrotechnics more
organic by employing two drummers and they both can pound the hell
out of a kit. Ultraviolet is yet another throat-gripping opus
from one of sludge's finest.
Rating: B+
Recommended tracks: Unspoken, Quicksand
The Dillinger Escape Plan – One of Us
is the Killer
You can never accuse Dillinger Escape
Plan of 'taking it easy'. Under the supervision of current singer
Greg Puciato they have been firing out an album every three years
like clockwork and touring the world relentlessly. The band's origins
in math rock and experimental punk are well known but most of that
remains firmly in the past. DEP are all about forwards momentum –
brutal, punishing forwards momentum. That momentum has led them to
creating One of Us is the Killer, eleven songs of unyielding
intensity designed to test your ears and tolerance for mayhem. This
album is possibly their sharpest and most immediate to date. No holds
are barred and no quarter is given.
From the very first chords until the
tortured screams of 'The Threat Posed By Nuclear Weapons' you are in
for one hell of a ride. These songs fire away chaotically, leaving
little to no breathing room in between. They demand you pay
attention. There are quiet moments that simmer and seethe away but
they only serve make the inevitable swing back into heaviness all the
more shocking.
It's not hard to see why Dillinger have
left a host of former band member sin their wake. It must be hard
work to keep up with this barreling freight train and those that
stand a chance have to be at the top of their game. They are
unfortunately fated to live in the shadow of their earlier albums –
Calculating Infinity and Irony is a Dead Scene are
practically cult classics nowadays – but it is never for a lack of
trying to outdo themselves.
Rating: B
Recommended tracks: Nothing's Funny,
One of Us is the Killer
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