Monday, new week, time to introduce "Record of The Week".
"Desolation" is the third album from Denver’s "doomed heavy metal" outfit KHEMMIS, three albums in four years is very creative for a band these days.
"Desolation" is a 41 minutes rocker with a punch divided into six tunes!
And on the third release, the sound more straightforward classic heavy metal but the doomy parts are still here. The album is great produced as the sound is very good, crisp and clear and you can hear every note the guys are hitting. The vocal performances are amazingly good, absolutely the best the band has ever recorded. The songwriting has also moved up a step, well thought out and emotional lyrics. That KHEMMIS should move forward to new areas and find new paths for their creation was something we already got a hunch on "Hunted", so the development was expected, even if the movement isn't that big, more experience and musical interaction between the guys.
This is heavy guitar-driven rock, with heavy and wonderfully distorted riffing. The melody making is clever with great passages thru the layered path of new levels of musical maturity. The harsh parts get some space here and there in the tunes, just enough for "Desolation" which is a brilliantly composed musical album.
"Desolation" opens up with the uptempo tune "Bloodletting", a great and solid and punchy piece of musical rock art that in the end shifts turn to a harsh and heavy slab that follows up by the lead single "Isolation", the shortest tune on the album, a fast melodic piece that flows in the classic NWOBHM steps. Dual guitars with a catchy melody make this a really fun tune to spin. "Flesh To Nothing" is a melodic piece with great swelling harmony. In the middle path of the album, it's time for an epic doom piece, "The Seer", heavy and still a very melodic tune that drags the listener out on a great musical journey. "The Maw of Time" is a magnificent piece with superb singing with both clean and harsh vocals a melody with great energy that will give you goosebumps. The album closes up with an melancholy epic piece "From Ruin", a dark and half paced SABBATH riffing and emotionally charged lyrics. In retrospect, I’m glad that I handed out "Record Of The Week" to KHEMMIS before, "Absolution" in October 2015 and "Haunted" in November 2016. A band that I just loved back then and still love what I hear on "Desolation" so it's really hard to be 100% objective even if I always try to listen to an album without comparing with anything until it's time to write.
"Desolation" was released June 22 on 20 Buck Spin in North America and Nuclear Blast everywhere else.
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| Some of the beautiful Vinyl releases. |
Sum: After six months of spectacular album releases, "Desolation" effortlessly floats up to the surface as one of the greatest releases of 2018.
Today's tune is the opening track "Bloodletting", enjoy!
More info @
Official Khemmis Web
Listen to ”Khemmis - Bloodletting" on Spotify!
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