Desolation

First off, I will admit to being a new-comer to the Khemmis camp. In preparation for seeing them live last year, I listened to their first two albums; 2016's Hunted and 2015's Absolution and I didn’t really like either. Hunted had some nice licks but nothing that made me listen to it more than 2-3 times. Which, deserty doom metal of this kind is easily digested on the initial listen so I can’t contribute my lack of additional listens to my distaste. They felt flat and plain while this music benefits from emotion and feeling. They were touring again this year with The Black Dahlia Murder, Pig Destroyer, Gost (Ugh), and Skeletal Remains (Just as lackluster live!) so I gave Khemmis another shot and was blown away by this release! Let's dig in.

Immediately noticeable is the quality of the writing. It has improved in leaps and bounds all across the board. I do realize with that comes many a doom fan that will espouse a stance that there may be too much flair and pomp to it to be true doom metal, even though I don't really consider them all that much doom. More like a more doom-tinged The Sword (with way a way better performance than The Sword's Used Future this year). All songs are appropriately epic, like previously but this time have insanely catchy hooks and execution on nearly all parts, except for maybe the bass. It does the job but doesn't really impress. I appreciate the way sometimes they straddle the line between fist-pumping doom and, dare I say, power metal!? Listen to "Isolation" or "Flesh to Nothing". It's a bit of a stretch but power metal is my least favorite sub-genre of metal so my ears perk up when I hear something like it (I make a few exceptions for Iron Maiden or Iced Earth. A few...). Sometimes the lyrics can be a little corny but not to the point of detracting from the whole. They are steeped in fantasy themes so it's hard to do naturally with lyrics and not seem contrived. The vocal patterns are a real treat here which wriggle their way into your ear and won’t get out. Check out "Bloodletting", "Isolation", "Flesh to Nothing", and "From Ruin" for said ear worms. Sometimes he patterns (not voice) lean heavy into the Metallica field but I don't really have a problem with that. There's also the matter of the slight power metal influences but that is also partly due to how the guitar is being played while the more power vocals are being employed. Being an extreme metal fan, I don’t often find myself belting out lyrics in the shower. Here be hooks! The guitars are written similarly catchy, especially in the leads department. Check out the final track for some immediate leads that welcome you to the song and repeat without drowning you with their presence; like a good host at a ball. Whoah, weird analogy. The tones they use are dry with that stoner/desert rock but with heft to flesh out the song. The crunch if balanced well. This allows the leads to dilly-dally without losing the structure. The leads, like on "Maw of time" and "The Seer" can be interesting and worth paying attention to, they never impress. Which, let's be real, doesn’t happen often in doom metal. That track does have a solo worth listening to due to the "dueling guitars" effect.

Originally I respected the vocalist in his ability to pull off those really great vocal patterns but then I started realizing how produced and layered they were. Sometimes it's more obvious than others. The overproduction is only lightly there on "Isolation" in the verse then ramps it up like crazy for the chorus. This will let you hear both a restrained and a heavy use of the effects. Granted, after hearing him live, I'm glad they did. It's not as bad as 2014 era Michael Keene (The Faceless) but my assessment was validated when his live performance crumbled without all the effects. Lost some respect there. Another vocal note is the overuse of the growling vocals. This was the same problem as on the 2016 release. I think the growls in this band are the weak link and by "Maw of Time" are heavily implemented. Fortunately, less than previous releases. The rhythm guitar doesn't really impress but has some tastily-written licks. The lead guitar, as mentioned above, never impresses but some unique shining moments. The drums service the music as a whole and even stand put on their own. They don't jump out of place, however if you determine to focus on the drums you will be pleased to find that they are not your cookie-cutter doom drums.. Doom does not require technically impressive drums but we get a little treat here. I also have to give the drummer major points, though. When I saw them at said show, all the power to the stage went out for about 15-20 seconds yet you could still hear the drummer doing his thing looking around confusedly at the other bands members! For a second it was just drums and vocals but the vocalist stopped singing until the power came back on. Then they picked up right off like nothing happened thanks to the drummer just keeping his cool and maintaining the beat. The show must go on!

Favorite tracks:
--Bloodletting
--From Ruin
--Isolation
--Flesh to Nothing

Technical skill: 65%% Originality: 72% Song writing: 97% Accessibility: 88% Production: 59%