Static Tensions

If the world were just, Kylesa would be a household name. Fellow Georgians Mastodon have rocketed to fame due to hard work, press hype, and acceptance by non-metalheads. Fellow Savannians Baroness have earned plaudits due to a sound that’s more classic rock than metal. Kylesa, too, have alloyed sludge metal with melody and finesse. Their star, though, has brightened more slowly. After four albums and thousands of road miles logged, its shine has become brilliant.

Songs climb up and down with relentless momentum. “Scapegoat”, for example, is basically a hardcore punk two-step. But despite this newfound efficiency, the songs are more baroque than ever. They flaunt melodies shamelessly now. Choruses are insistent. Practically the whole record is hummable. The bright theme of “Unknown Awareness” arcs like a rainbow overhead. “Running Red” alternates Slayer harmonies with riffs redolent of Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man”. Laura Pleasants’ singing, once a buried gem, is often upfront. She ranges from a mysterious coo to more forceful declamation. Both provide a feminine contrast to roiling, downtuned riffs underneath.
Headphones, or a good stereo, reveal this record’s masterstroke: production that mostly separates the drummers hard left and right. This yields both greater clarity and density. Together, the drummers form a prickly thicket of percussion. But they often separate into rich counterpoint. “Said and Done”, for example, pits blastbeats on the left against slow accents on the right. They’re playing in time, but they’re almost fighting each other. The body is torn as to how to react.