Kylesa – Exhausting Fire (Album Review)

Emerging from the sultry coastal plains of Savannah, Georgia in 2001, Kylesa has bestowed upon the world six albums of sludgy, psychedelic Heavy Metal entwined with some unflinchingly progressive Stoner Rock. Building in popularity, the creative forces of this unique outfit have been primarily pushed forth by guitarist/vocalist Laura Pleasants and local scene originator Phillip Cope. Vocally diverse, featuring a unique set-up of two separate percussion sets, Kylesa live is a storm of tightly controlled fury, yet their music breathes and sprawls of its own accord. Restlessly creative, Kylesa recently completed work on their seventh studio album. Entitled Exhausting Fire, this latest slab comes to the world by way of Season of Mist Records and follows on only two years from the darkly gorgeous Ultraviolet full-length.

Kylesa occupies a rare niche in the world of Heavy Metal and Hard Rock as it is formulated in these contemporary times. Though definite, separate genres can be detected in their sound, the synthesis of elements they present speaks of a profound understanding of song dynamics. It is no surprise that years ago they covered Pink Floyd, because the trippy, jamming nature of some of their compositions speak to that era of psychedelic, sonic meanderings so prevalent in Floyd’s heyday. Leaning heavily on Pleasant’s unique voice, the vocal trade-off on “Night Drive” helps elevate the altered mental state atmosphere of the tune quite well. Fans will dream along to the recumbent instrumental piece midway through, then get jolted awake by the double percussion style that fits Kylesa so well. It sneaks up on the listener, slowly but insistently, like dawn, like aging.

It is easy to see how far Kylesa has come in their development with the excellent “Shaping the Southern Sky.” Riffs, riffs, riffs, and a rollicking, late ’70s jaunt are polished off by Pleasant’s catchy vocal hooks. A bit more upbeat, it lives in an open sky space of light and thoughts, rather than the delicious gloaming in which many of their songs often dwell. After a trippy mid-song interlude, the thrust forward to the end is expressed in a rocking guitar lead which keeps things jamming.

A theme of progress and perseverance seems to infuse Exhausting Fire, as the self-evident “Moving Day” focuses most sharply. Loss and hardship has hit the band hard in recent years, something fans of music know all too well just by living and being human beings. Perhaps the inspirational tone of this song, which with every note exudes the triumph in breaking personal barriers and literally moving on, will help fans experiencing strife to do the same thing. This is Swamp Rock with a PhD. The result is a sonic thesis in musicianship and skill, but it is still regular people moving regular people with their art. “Lost and Confused,” as many people have felt at one time or another, rocks hard and features some awesome bass guitar during the chorus. The dreamlike effects in the music have to be heard and felt to be truly appreciated, as they coalesce this song into a full and complete technicolor expression of sound.

There is a fluidity to Exhausting Fire which speaks to the ironclad precision and adherence to concept with which the band works. “Crusher” opens the record with some suitably crunchy guitar but when the band relaxes back into a supine suite at 1:30 and Pleasant’s croon tickles the mind, the listener gets the idea of where this album is going. Kylesa does have a bit of a Punk Rock background, as Cope played extensively in Hardcore Punk bands back in his early days. Perhaps because of this, they are good at crafting songs in under three minutes. “Inward Debate” is a short sludge fest that helps advance the album and gives the listener the full gamut of the Cope and Pleasants vocal tandem. Cope’s clear, spacey calls truly sound like they’re coming from an alternate dimension; his voice has gotten better with each release as he etches Kylesa’s mark into the granite of their developing sound.

From the rocking, early Nirvana-like bile in “Growing Roots” to the Punk meets Grunge stomp of “Out of My Mind,” Kylesa concocts adrenaline baiting riffs and percussion, then dips them in a river of sedatives, soaking them up in an intoxicating brew guaranteed to enrich with further listens. The conclusion of the latter song jumps out of that sleepy bog and has the listener running to the finish line, breathlessly arriving and hoping for more.

Exhausting Fire features a cover of one of old school Heavy Metal’s enduring anthems. When Kylesa covered “Set the Controls For The Heart Of The Sun” by Pink Floyd, they took a song that was sort of quiet and gave it balls and bite. Now with their rendition of Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid,” Kylesa has taken a quick, catchy, radio friendly hit and slowed it way down to psychedelic territory. The melody has been dipped in molasses and poured into a sonic lava lamp to float and careen around the mind, with Pleasants’ voice turning it into a dreaming ode and accomplishing what a band should be doing when covering a classic; paying respect while reshaping the song to make it their own.

Hard to say anything bad about Exhausting Fire, as it focuses on what Kylesa has been building towards quite well. Will some fans desire the noisier cacophony of older albums? Perhaps, but repeated listens should solidify it as perhaps their most complete work to date. CrypticRock gives Exhausting Fire 5 out of 5 stars.