the LUNA music word 'em up: KYLESA - Spiral Shadow (Season of Mist)

There has been much praise for Kylesa's "Spiral Shadow." Pitchfork has thrown its formidable weight behind it (I have to admit, even though P4K doesn't cover enough metal for my tastes, when they do they seem to grasp it's awesomeness appropriately enough), and Brandon Stosuy (the music writer/critic I probably envy the most in this world) has repeatedly hinted that it may top his Best of 2010 list. Honestly, in a year that has found metal far outshining any other genre in terms of masterworks, I was more than a little skeptical that Kylesa's new album was going to be the one that had people tripping over themselves with praise.

Certainly the band's mixture of hardcore and sludge metal on last year's "Static Tensions" was a grand slab of metal nirvana that was generally loved by most, but it did not necessarily point toward the hybrid/crossover/breakthrough that is "Spiral Shadow." While I am still not ready to declare this the metal album of the year, I can certainly understand why some would. The Savanah, Georgia quintet maintain strains of their sludge/hardcore past with "Spiral," but inject large amounts of progressive elements and melody into the mix, creating something not quite metal, but far too heavy to be anything else. Imagine a more heavy crushing At The Drive In and you might have an idea of what "Spiral" sounds like.

The album kicks off with "Tired Climb," which begins with a bass progression that sounds a bit like King Crimson or Tool over tribal sounding percussion from the band's two drummers before exploding into crunching guitar riffs that are punctuated by slightly psychedelic guitar washes. It's all actually rather catchy, even though it is still heavy as hell and more complex than most of the band's contemporaries. Somehow Kylesa is able to incorporate all of these disparate characteristics into a unified and amazingly accessible whole. They are melodic without being pop, proggy without being wankish and heavy without being oppressive.

Lead vocalist and guitarist Philip Cope's incredibly crisp production differentiates the band's sound from fellow travellers Mastodon, Baroness, Black Tusk, Torche and High on Fire. Kylesa's riffs sound like quick and sudden shark attacks, rather than the bestial pummeling so often associated with sludge metal. Cope's production perfectly complements the songs here which run the gambit from knotty complexly structured pieces to pop punk. Such variance is to be expected for a band that sites Sabbath, Neurosis, Black Flag, Pink Floyd and the Pixies as a few of their influences. What isn't to be expected is that the band can turn in a song that is equally heavy as it is upbeat on "Don't Look Back," and then turn right around and deliver the pensive doom-ridden crush of "Distance Closing In," and make it all sound like it fits perfectly together. This isn't an album that you fast forward to your favorite song, it is an album that you listen to all the way through without omission even as the band explores radically different moods and approaches.

The one constant that runs throughout is the lyrical theme of motion. Nearly every song features lyrics that touch upon moving backwards, forwards, or side to side. Cope and lead guitarist/vocalist Laura Pleasents have both explained that the album is more introspective than before and came about after taking stock of the near decade the band has been making music, and the distance they have travelled since their formation in 2001. It may be that personal inventory sparked something in a band that was already on an ascending arc, or it may be that Kylesa had just grown confidant enough to break down whatever barriers remained in their music, either way the band sounds more creative and vital than ever and have crafted an album that deserves recognition and praise across the board, and not just from metal fans.

Wheeler, who has been quiet for the most part over the past few months when it comes to cutting down great music, chimed in with this gem: "Is this the "Keep 'Em Separated" guys?"

"Tired Climb"