Kylesa's Ultraviolet is Ultra-awesome

Something must be in the water down in Georgia because they are cooking up some seriously good metal. My nephew Scott got me into Mastodon a few years ago; Baroness' Yellow & Green made my top 5 favorite metal records of the year in 2012. Now Savannah's Kylesa enters my radar like a cruise missile with Ultraviolet. This record will easily make my top 10 favorites of the year and has a very good chance at being number one.

There's many things to like about this record. It is a loud aggressive record that also balances in a great melodic sense. It's not sing along, but it has a great metal groove to it. The vocals like most metal records these day is buried in the mix, which is a slight shame because co-vocalist Laura Pleasants has a great voice for the songs. I like this trend of women showing up in metal bands. Or maybe I am just getting around to appreciating it. But I don't remember bands like Kylesa or other great bands like Christian Mistress, Blood Ceremony and even Black Mountain which use female vocalists to great effect. Ms Pleasants shares vocal duties with Phillip Cope; they bring a nice counter to one another. There's not just the requisite metal screaming but strong singing as well. For me good grooves and good singing are what propels a metal band ahead.

The sound is forward-thinking metal. It's heavy, it has elements of Slayer-ish thrash, and Sleep-esque stoner, but it's modern. Steven Hyden had a great piece in Grantland in which he began talking about the new Queens of the Stoneage record before talking about Ultraviolet and the new Deafheaven and their place amongst the new metal scene (obviously a far greater and insightful piece than my drivel). His most interesting statement is that metal is the last bastion where forward-thinking rock music is being made. I couldn't agree more. That isn't a knock on the more mellow stuff or the garage rock I listen to but testament to the chances metal bands are taking and the challenges they are meeting. Black Sabbath is used as a touch point so often and it doesn't really mean anything. Sabbath were great and their influence on metal is so ingrained that it isn't even worth mentioning anymore. Any band can tune down and play a bit slower and be called Sabbath-esque. On the other hand any band that plays super fast will immediately be compared to Slayer. Hell, I already did it at the start of this paragraph. But the interesting thing about Kylesa is they are building on that foundation instead of just laying out. This album rocks in getting to a good cruising groove, then drops a gear to kick you in the ass again. A percussionist will find a lot to like; it's very drum-oriented and Carl McGinley is a great drummer. Drums are the engine of the band and Kylesa is able to rev very nicely. My only complaint is the production is a touch muddled, but that's the way metal seems to be going these days. I think a clearer production would have been good here.

All the songs are strong, but especially choice cuts include "Long Gone," "Unspoken," "Vulture's Landing" and the fantasticly groovy "Steady Breakdown." Not just a great metal record but a great record period.

Here's "Unspoken."