Desolation: Vinyl LP

Includes 8 Page booklet. From the stadium-sized opening notes of ‘Bloodletting’ it is immediately evident that Khemmis are again putting distance between themselves and their earlier influences to inform a sound that is singularly their own. ‘Isolation’, recently aired live on the Decibel Tour, is the album’s lead single and most immediate track, with the classic metal melodies the band have become revered for shining throughout. On epic closer ’From Ruin’ and throughout the entirety of the album, the lead vocals and melodies of Phil Pendergast are the clearest, most powerful and best arranged that the band has achieved. Working for the third time with Dave Otero at Flatline Audio in Denver, the band and producer now have the familiarity and mutual experience to arrive at the perfect symbiosis of songwriting, arrangement and production value.

While Khemmis are undeniably influenced by Doom and Classic Metal, to tag them with those labels doesn’t do justice to what’s accomplished on ‘Desolation’, a perfect representation of modern Heavy Metal in 2018 that integrates the past in a way only possible in the present. ‘Desolation’ is not just the best Khemmis record to date but a testament to the quality that Heavy Metal is still capable of.