Album Reviews

When Kylesa started out, they were lumped in with the rest of the ‘Savannah metal’ scene because… well, because it made sense at the time. But over the course of several albums, Kylesa as well as the other bands (Baroness, Black Tusk,…) in that scene, outgrew the label.

On “Exhausting Fire”, the band’s seventh full-length, Kylesa continue to evolve in the direction of their last releases. Vocalist/guitarist duo Laura Pleasants and Phillip Cope still hold down the fort with massive riffs, while Carl McKinley provides the thundering rhythms. And while they have been combining sludgy parts and psychedelic elements for quite some time now along with a myriad of other influences, things have never sounded more balanced than on “Exhausting Fire”.

Don’t simply take my word for it… check out “Shaping The Southern Sky” for example, where the band completely loses their shit over a sturdy riff that would make Kyuss proud before knocking the wind out of you at the end. Unfortunately there’s also the trippy “Falling”, which doesn’t do a helluva lot other than plod along for four minutes. But hey, nobody’s perfect and overall Kylesa have never sounded better than on “Exhausting Fire”.