Kylesa is an American sludge metal band that was formed in Savannah, Georgia. Their music incorporates experimentalism with heavy riffs, drop-tuned guitars and elements of psychedelic rock.[2] The group was established in 2001 by the former members of Damad, with the addition of guitar player Laura Pleasants who is from North Carolina.[3]
The band has since undergone lineup changes; the remaining original members are Phillip Cope and Laura Pleasants. In 2006, the band added two drummers, Carl McGinley and Jeff Porter. Eric Hernandez joined in 2008 to replace Porter. In April 2016, the band announced that they would be going on an indefinite hiatus. On August 20, 2024 Roadburn Festival announced Kylesa's first reunion show at their 2025 edition, followed by announcements from ArcTanGent Festival in the UK, Inferno Fest in Norway, and A Colossal Weekend in Denmark.
History
Kylesa formed in Savannah in 2001,[4] taking their name from "kilesa mara", a Buddhist term denoting delusory mental states.[5]
Guitarist and singer Phillip Cope, bassist Brian Duke, and drummer Christian Depken were former members of the Savannah sludge metal act Damad, which had released two albums in the '90s. Philip Cope has been described as the Savannah "metal scene's godfather".[6] He began playing in hardcore punk groups in the late 1980s, and in 1992 booked groups such as Buzzoven and Neurosis at a local all-ages club.[6] From 1993 to 2001, Cope played in the group Damad, which included vocalist Victoria Scalisi. Pat Mathis of the Passive Fist label said that Damad "established a sound that's stuck-- that whole heavy, doomy Southern kind of metal. When you've got these old punk guys who listen to the Allman Brothers and start a metal band, that's kind of what you get."[6] Damad changed their name to Kylesa in 2001 with the addition of Laura Pleasants, a native of North Carolina who attended the Savannah College of Art and Design.[6]
After recording the majority of their first record (self-titled Kylesa on Prank Records) in May 2001, the band played their first show with Mastodon and Cream Abdul Babar in Savannah, Georgia on June 2, 2001. On June 6, 2001, Brian Duke died from an epileptic seizure during the course of the night. The band decided to finish the recording in his honor, wrote and recorded two more songs (where local bass player and friend Michael Redmond stepped in and played bass). The self-titled record was released about one year later when artwork by Pushead was completed. Prior to the full LP, a single limited 7-inch was released on Prank Records, also using artwork by Pushead. The Pushead-designed band logo from these releases has been used on all the band's merchandise and releases ever since.
Replacing Duke with bassist and singer Corey Barhorst, the band wrote and recorded a split 7-inch with Memento Mori on Hyperrealist, and a split full-length with Cream Abdul Babar from Florida on At a Loss Recordings. These records came out immediately following the release on Prank despite being recorded much later, due to the long wait for artwork by Pushead delaying the release of the self-titled LP. More singles and a placeholder EP, 2004's No Ending 110 Degree Heat Index, followed right before Depken left the group.
Kylesa signed with the independent metal label Prosthetic Records and released their second proper album, To Walk a Middle Course, in 2005 with drummer Brandon Baltzley.
Following the release of that album, Baltzley left the group, replaced by a pair of drummers, Carl McGinley (of Unpersons) and Jeff Porter.[5] Kylesa's third album, Time Will Fuse Its Worth, was released on Halloween 2006. Eric Hernandez (of Capsule) replaced Porter and appears on Static Tensions, released in 2009.[7] Two songs on this album were inspired by the shooting of Jason Statts, a Savannah musician.[6] They toured with Mastodon after the release of this album, whose guitarist, Bill Kelliher, said that
"We took Kylesa on tour because we love those guys and have been hanging out with them for years. They blew a lot of people's expectations out of the water."[6]
Kylesa in 2014
As of 2010, Kylesa had sold 75,000 albums.[8] In 2010, they signed with Season of Mist to release the album Spiral Shadow on October 26 that year.[9] A rarities compilation album titled From the Vaults, Vol. 1 was released later that year.[10]
Their sixth album, Ultraviolet, was released through Season of Mist in May 2013. The record is said to be darker lyrically and sonically than previous works, containing more vocals from singer/guitarist Laura Pleasants.[11] The band embarked on a full North America headlining tour to promote the release with direct support from Blood Ceremony, White Hills and Lazer Wulf.[12] In October 2015, the group released their seventh album, Exhausting Fire, through Season of Mist.[13]
In April 2016, the band announced in a Facebook post that they would be going on an indefinite hiatus.[14]
In August 2024, the band announced they had returned from their hiatus and announced they would perform at the 2025 Roadburn Festival.[15]
Musical style
Kylesa is most often classified as sludge and stoner metal.[16] The band has two lead vocalists, Phillip Cope and Laura Pleasants. Beginning in 2006, Kylesa employed two drummers; the dual drum tracks are often panned strongly to the right and left.
AllMusic stated that the band borrows "elements of hardcore punk, psychedelic stoner rock, technical speed metal, and good old-fashioned Black Sabbath sludge."[4] Journalist David Peisner of Spin described Kylesa as "dark psych-metal titans", practicing an "aggressive [sound], but with a hazy, stoner vibe that suggests a strange amalgamation of Black Sabbath, Black Flag, and early Pink Floyd."[17]
Sludge metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that combines elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. The genre generally includes slow tempos, tuned down guitars and nihilistic lyrics discussing poverty, drug addiction and pollution.
Neurosis is an American post-metal band from Oakland, California. It was formed in 1985 by guitarist Scott Kelly, bassist Dave Edwardson, and drummer Jason Roeder, initially as a crust punk band. Chad Salter joined as a second guitarist and appeared on the band's 1987 debut Pain of Mind and then Steve Von Till replaced him in 1989. The following year, the lineup further expanded to include a keyboardist and a visual artist. Beginning with their third album Souls at Zero (1992), Neurosis transformed their hardcore sound by incorporating diverse influences including doom metal and industrial music, becoming a major force in the emergence of the post-metal and sludge metal genres.
Season of Mist is an independent record label and record distributor with subsidiaries in France and the United States. The record label was founded in 1996 by Michael S. Berberian in Marseille, France. From the start releasing black metal, pagan metal, and death metal records, the label moved on to releasing albums of avant-garde metal, gothic metal and punk bands as well. The label has two offices, one in Marseille, France and one in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Intronaut is an American progressive metal band from Los Angeles, California, that incorporates complex polyrhythms, progressive rock, and jazz.
Baroness is an American heavy metal band from Savannah, Georgia that has been active since 2003. Its early members grew up together in Lexington, Virginia. The band has undergone numerous lineup changes, with frontman John Baizley serving as the sole constant throughout. Baizley creates the artwork for all of the group's albums and has done artwork for other bands.
Cream Abdul Babar is one of the longest-standing bands in the Tallahassee scene. The band formed in 1994, combining elements of punk, metal, industrial, and noise to create their brand of experimental rock. The band's name is a play on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Static Tensions is the fourth studio album by the American heavy metal band Kylesa, released on March 17, 2009, by Prosthetic Records. The artwork and layout was created by John Dyer Baizley of the band Baroness. Like its predecessor, Time Will Fuse Its Worth (2006), the record features two drummers.
Time Will Fuse Its Worth is the third full-length album by American sludge metal band Kylesa. It was released October 30, 2006 by Prosthetic Records.
Black Tusk is an American sludge metal band from Savannah, Georgia, that has been active since 2005.
Spiral Shadow is the fifth full-length album by American sludge metal band Kylesa, released by Season of Mist on October 25, 2010 in Europe and October 26, 2010 in the United States.
To Walk a Middle Course is the second studio album by American heavy metal band Kylesa. Released on March 22, 2005, by Prosthetic Records, it was produced by English record producer Alex Newport, who is known for his projects Fudge Tunnel and Nailbomb.
Kylesa is the debut album by American sludge metal band Kylesa. It was released on April 2, 2002 by Prank Records and is also available for download on iTunes and Amazon.
U.S. Christmas is a psychedelic rock band from Marion, North Carolina, founded in 2002. After Neurosis guitarist/vocalist Scott Kelly heard their debut album Salt The Wound, he signed the band to Neurot Recordings, the label he owns with fellow Neurosis members. Their sound features elements of Americana, sludge metal, psychedelic rock, space rock and folk.
Ultraviolet is the sixth full-length studio album by American sludge metal band Kylesa. It is the group's third album to be released through Season of Mist.
From the Vaults, Vol. 1 is a compilation album by American sludge metal band Kylesa, collecting previously unreleased tracks, alternate versions of released tracks and one new track. It was released on November 16, 2012 in Europe and November 20, 2012 in North America through Season of Mist. The collection features a newly recorded track titled "End Truth" as well as a cover of Pink Floyd's "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun" and Buzzoven's "Drained".
Conan are a British doom/sludge metal band from Liverpool whose style is characterised by a heavily distorted and downtuned sound. It has been described as "caveman battle doom".
Exhausting Fire is the seventh full-length studio album by American sludge metal band Kylesa. It is the group's fourth album to be released through Season of Mist.
Victoria Scalisi was an American punk, sludge, and heavy metal vocalist and artist from Savannah, Georgia.
Unpersons was an American heavy metal band from Savannah, Georgia. Active from 1997 until 2007, its members would go on to play in other notable bands that were involved in Savannah's heavy music scene.
References
↑ "Kylesa". Heavy Psych Sounds. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
↑ WISE, LAUREN. "The 21 Best Heavy Metal Albums of 2013". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved September 23, 2018. Georgia's pretty damn good at producing great stoner sludge metal: In addition to Mastodon and Baroness there's Kylesa, who fuses basement punk and biker metal on Ultraviolet.
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