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Product Description
New album from this thundering Georgia crust-metal band. Produced by the band's own Phillip Cope.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Am I really the first person to give this album a review?! Apparently.
Anyhow, after the great first two records and then the career defining Static Tensions and Time Will Fuse it's Worth, Kylesa brave a daring new direction that by their standards can only be described as pop. The title track here really is the standout in my opinion, perhaps because I haven't quite got my head around the record as a whole and was suprised to hear them playing tracks as straight forward and singalong as Don't Look Back. I really do like this band a hell of a lot and admire the way they have progressed and worked so hard on their sound but this album hasn't really grabbed me yet or begged for repeated playing. It's just very different. Maybe it will sudenly hit me, only time will tell. The duel drum attack it still very much in place, the riffs are crushing in places but the growling metal seems to have ever so slightly gone and been replaced with catchy tunes that only prove further how diverse this bands influences are.
Anyhow, after the great first two records and then the career defining Static Tensions and Time Will Fuse it's Worth, Kylesa brave a daring new direction that by their standards can only be described as pop. The title track here really is the standout in my opinion, perhaps because I haven't quite got my head around the record as a whole and was suprised to hear them playing tracks as straight forward and singalong as Don't Look Back. I really do like this band a hell of a lot and admire the way they have progressed and worked so hard on their sound but this album hasn't really grabbed me yet or begged for repeated playing. It's just very different. Maybe it will sudenly hit me, only time will tell. The duel drum attack it still very much in place, the riffs are crushing in places but the growling metal seems to have ever so slightly gone and been replaced with catchy tunes that only prove further how diverse this bands influences are.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
So just why haven't many other rock and metal bands chosen to have two drummers? Is it because traditionally drummers have been seen as the black sheep of the band, the `crazy ones' liable to over indulge and lose the plot at any given opportunity? Having two just doubles the trouble! Or is it just that musically it is so hard to pull off effectively - the rhythm section is already the backbone of a group's tightness, why would you willingly choose to add another element of complexity to it? Perhaps it is just that there is an established band dynamic and people have accepted this without questioning? Who knows - the only question we need to ask here is `Does it work for Kylesa'?
`Spiral Shadow' has served as my introduction to the band and I've found it mightily impressive. When a band is described as having prog influences those alarm bells can start ringing, especially with slower paced rock or metal bands (great when it works - mind numbing when it doesn't). I needn't have worried - as the other reviewer states this album is actually quite conventional, even a bit pop in places. Most of the songs come in at under four minutes and follow pretty standard compositional structures. This isn't a bad thing as Kylesa are masters of detail - drums and vocals both double up at times, little time changes and fills pop up here and there, and instrumental sections add some welcome variety.
Kylesa are quite the sonic chameleons and have taken elements from stoner, metal, hardcore, prog and alternative rock and mixed them together in a satisfyingly unique way. The dual drumming certainly helps, where things could get ponderous and one paced the drums add a certain increased nuance and sprightliness that other bands in this type of genre frequently miss out on. Other winning elements are the female vocals, which are well used, and the pacing of the album as a whole, which is spot on.
There are some really strong songs to be found here, the title track is an obvious standout with some of the most experimental drumming to the fore, `To Forget' has probably the catchiest riff but is no mere grinder with some gentle instrumentation and female vocals in the verses, and `Distance Closing In' is desert stoner trippiness rudely interrupted by a tribal chorus of real intensity. The more straightforwardly rocking material is excellent too with the focused brutality of the opening `Tired Climb', breakneck pace switching `Cheating Synergy' and the anthemic `Don't Look Back' really adding an edge to the first half of the disc.
`Spiral Shadow' should hold a lot of appeal for a hell of a lot of people - fans of bands ranging from Kyuss to Tool, Baroness to Black Mountain, The Mars Volta to Clutch, Monster Magnet to Mastodon, should all find something to interest them here. Who knows, if Kylesa can keep producing music of this quality perhaps we'll all have a new favourite band to file next to those other `Ky...' masters!
`Spiral Shadow' has served as my introduction to the band and I've found it mightily impressive. When a band is described as having prog influences those alarm bells can start ringing, especially with slower paced rock or metal bands (great when it works - mind numbing when it doesn't). I needn't have worried - as the other reviewer states this album is actually quite conventional, even a bit pop in places. Most of the songs come in at under four minutes and follow pretty standard compositional structures. This isn't a bad thing as Kylesa are masters of detail - drums and vocals both double up at times, little time changes and fills pop up here and there, and instrumental sections add some welcome variety.
Kylesa are quite the sonic chameleons and have taken elements from stoner, metal, hardcore, prog and alternative rock and mixed them together in a satisfyingly unique way. The dual drumming certainly helps, where things could get ponderous and one paced the drums add a certain increased nuance and sprightliness that other bands in this type of genre frequently miss out on. Other winning elements are the female vocals, which are well used, and the pacing of the album as a whole, which is spot on.
There are some really strong songs to be found here, the title track is an obvious standout with some of the most experimental drumming to the fore, `To Forget' has probably the catchiest riff but is no mere grinder with some gentle instrumentation and female vocals in the verses, and `Distance Closing In' is desert stoner trippiness rudely interrupted by a tribal chorus of real intensity. The more straightforwardly rocking material is excellent too with the focused brutality of the opening `Tired Climb', breakneck pace switching `Cheating Synergy' and the anthemic `Don't Look Back' really adding an edge to the first half of the disc.
`Spiral Shadow' should hold a lot of appeal for a hell of a lot of people - fans of bands ranging from Kyuss to Tool, Baroness to Black Mountain, The Mars Volta to Clutch, Monster Magnet to Mastodon, should all find something to interest them here. Who knows, if Kylesa can keep producing music of this quality perhaps we'll all have a new favourite band to file next to those other `Ky...' masters!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
10 reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Great release from a band that is progressing
7 Dec 2010
Amazon Verified Purchase
This album is definitely metal, but with a serious progressive/experimental/indie feel to it. They've clearly been listening to a lot of eighties and early nineties indie rock--not really Seattle grunge as much as the cleaner sound of the Pixies and early Smashing Pumpkins. Some diehard metalheads are probably turned off by that but c'mon, those bands were FUN to listen to and so is this album. There's plenty of Ozzy-era Sabbath guitars in here too, but both the male and female vocals actually SING sometimes instead of just shouting. Laura Pleasants clearly is getting her Kim Deal vocals on, sometimes just wordless harmonizing with her guitar notes on tracks like "Don't look back" which is catchy as all hell. There are some psychedelic jaunts as well, but the tracks are all in that three-to-four minute mark and there isn't a weak one on here. I've pretty much been playing it non-stop for the past three days since I purchased it. My issue with metal is how repetitive some of the albums are, I just tired of being bludgeoned for 45 minutes straight. Bands like Kylesa, Baroness, and Mastodon (all from Georgia!) break that mold and are putting out some amazing stuff these days.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
not my type of metal, however...
18 Nov 2010
Format:Audio CD
I'm typically a black/death metal dude with the occasional 80's metal tossed in. This band hits home though. Lately, I've enjoyed experimenting with new stuff such as Black Cobra, Devin Townsend, Minsk. I guessing it's the atmosphere. Most black metal has atmosphere as does this, but this is far from black metal,it's more 90's but way heavier than the grunge bands. The singer reminds me of Beastie Boys, Rage Against the Machine if they were into this sort of thing. The music is very moody and catchy. Ten years ago I would have laughed at such, but maybe now that I'm almost 40 I can appreciate something different and original. I'd also say to buy the original because I had the leaked version for about two weeks and it sounded like crap compared to the actual CD. I know you young folks like the free stuff, but seriously real cd's sound so much better. I do sound on indie films so I have an ear for this type of thing.
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Superior to their 2009 Release
31 Oct 2010
Format:Audio CD
Brilliant, seductive, powerful, beautiful, transporting... this is the greatest work of Kylesa. They have evolved into profound rock n roll artists. In terms of depth and richness of vision, they're comparable to Genghis Tron as the most profound sound popular culture has produced. They've stolen my heart with this one.
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