Country: U.S.A. (Denver, Colorado)
Genre: Heavy / Epic Doom Metal
For fans of: Crypt Sermon, Candlemass, Pallbearer, Spirit Adrift.
The American band Khemmis return with their fifth full-length, which bears the band’s name, Khemmis This move isn’t accidental, as it marks the most defining and refined work of their career. Leaving behind their chaotic, sludge origins, Khemmis now focus on a cleaner, more melodic and emotionally charged Heavy/Doom Metal. With the addition of David Small (Glacial Tomb) on bass, the band offer a dark, melancholic, yet highly accessible modern metal experience that honours the tradition of epic Doom.
Tracklist :
- Invocation of the Dreamer (04:46)
- Corpsebloom Garden (04:28)
- Grief’s Reverie (04:26)
- Beneath The Scythe (05:55)
- Gilded Chambers (05:37)
- Tomb Of Roses (05:04)
- Carrion King (06:21)
- Benediction Tones (05:23)
REVIEW : When a band releases a self-titled album on its fifth step, it usually wants to make a clear statement of identity. That’s exactly what Khemmis do. They throw off their most extreme, sludge “mud” and the excess of their early years, and hand us their tightest, most polished and direct album to date.
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The record relies very heavily on feeling and melodies. If you never liked their well-known duality of “clean and brutal vocals”, here you might change your mind, because it’s used more cleverly than ever. Phil Pendergast’s wonderful, glassy cleans (with a strong theatricality reminiscent of the Dio and Messiah Marcolin eras) dominate, while the brutal vocals appear only where they’re needed to build the right intensity. The first half of the record is flawless, with “Grief’s Reverie” balancing perfectly between melancholic doom and groove, and “Beneath the Scythe” bringing late 90s power/melodeath melodies to mind. In the second half, the darkness thickens, with “Carrion King” stealing the show by throwing some… dirt from HM-2 pedals onto the guitars.
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It’s obvious that Khemmis limited their countless experimental influences and focused on the essence. The result? An exceptionally mature, moving and “catchy” Heavy/Doom album that may not change the rules of the game, but will certainly stay on our speakers for a long time.
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