Kylesa is an experimental sludge, doom, drone metal band from Savannah, Georgia. I discovered them officially maybe a week ago from Pandora. I had heard of them before but never really paid much attention to them. I heard a few tracks off of Spiral Shadow and was blown away at the intense sound that these guys have although while keeping a small amount a finesse to it. They are really a great drone metal band that I think you guys should really check out. There are aspects of this band that really set them apart from the others in their genre of metal.
Spiral Shadow is their 5th studio album and was released this past year in 2010. It by far is their most experimental effort yet. After their Static Tensions release they were getting noticed by a lot of people critics, and fans alike. It was one of the better releases of 2009. This album though they really pushed the ambient psychedelic feel to it I feel. It really is a headphone record. The small little things you hear in the background that you might miss if you were just listening to it on a stereo. This album really explores their keyboard, and mixing abilities, but while not over powering the over-all vibe of the album. When the first track comes on its very intimate and mellow and sets you in the mood for a nap, and than it just takes off in this aggressive frenzy of sound and moves you through what will be Spiral Shadow. Their special edition release really shows how they record, and they really have a classic sense of recording. They use an assortment of probably 50 to 60 different peddles to get their very dense thick distortion sound. They really know their effects, and the way to combine them together perfectly to get their sound. Their classic favor is much appreciated from me b/c I feel that with the advances in technology and the different popularities in recording these days everything is going very digital, and sometimes made easy for the artist, and these guys don't take the easy road for sure. Which commends a certain amount more respect than the others doing it the modern ways. Spiral Shadow explores many different aspects of their music abilities which hasn't been done to this level on previous releases. From the guitar tones, to the keys added in as one of the main instruments, and not just a filler or accent to the song, but like I said not over taking the songs in anyway. Everything seems to mesh very well.
The drums are another thing that really puts me away. They have two drummers with full sets playing in unison. Which really hasn't been done like this before. It sounds really tight and together on the record, and watching these guys do everything on cue to the last note is truly amazing. The drums have a very big in your face presence on the record. They designed the record around the drums. They got them recorded and sounding really good first and formulated the rest of the record around the drums. Watching them play live is really a sight to see. When Carl McGinley, and Tyler Newberry start playing together its like watching yourself play in the mirror, but every once in a while you reflection will go and add a little something on its own to put the song together. Phillip Cope, Laura Pleasants, Corey Barhorst, Carl McGinley, and Tyler Newberry really make a great team together with their definite staple in the drone metal world with Spiral Shadow. I will continue to be a fan of them from this point on. I also recommend checking out Static Tensions as well it has a lot of great things throughout the record as well. I gave this album a solid 9. So until next time stay hard, stay heavy.
Here are some of the tracks from the record. I highly recommend listening to record in its entirety for the way the track fallow one another is really placed very well from start to finish.
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