Kylesa "No Ending | A 100° Heat Index" CD
[Prank]
Damn, this is a killer EP, even more menacing than the band's past work. "No Ending" starts things off with some thick and sludgy acidic rhythms and killer male/female vocal tradeoffs (not to mention a few sparse clean guitars and melodies); "A 100° Heat Index" is massively in your face with a mix of brooding, crushing rhythms and dissonant textures with awesome interplay between the dual vocals (sort of throatily shouting in key); "Delusion on Fire" is a re-recording of an out of print compilation track that's a bit more energetic in tempo and slightly more rhythmic to boot; and they close with a cover of Nausea's "Clutches" that fits in quite well with their original material. I like the recording. The guitars and bass are all distorted as fuck with shitloads of absolutely filthy textures (not to mention being dead even in the mix), the vocals are similarly equal in the mix and blend well, the percussion sounds fine, etc. The only thing they could do to improve it would be to fill in a few of the gaps left amidst the mix, but I'm not bothered by those subtle spaces, so fuck it. The packaging is pretty basic, including Pushead illustrations (one of which includes somewhat uncharacteristic subject matter), lyrics, recording credits, and that's that. Lyrically the tracks are suggestively bleak without getting so specific that the meaning is handed to you: "Try to control the impossible, Two steps backwards for every one forward, This heart on my sleeve beats no more, I'm not getting older I'm just weathered..." There's a CD-Rom video for "A 100° Heat Index" that includes live footage set to the studio audio, so it's nothing special, but it's a little something extra if nothing else. A good EP overall, though. Some of the band's best sounding material to date, so I'm more excited about their future efforts now. They're really getting better at some of the darker and more sinister moments. (7/10)
Running time - 13:30, Tracks: 4
[Notable tracks: No Ending, A 100° Heat Index, and the other two as well]
Prank Records - http://www.prankrecords.com

This review has been displayed 2085 times.