There's a good reason for all the praise heaped upon Spiral Shadow in 2010, the fifth release from Georgia's Kylesa. Sadly, I'm just getting to this one now here in early 2011, but that's my fault and totally irrelevant. Kylesa have put together something here that crosses into multiple genres, but is a part of none of them. Avalanches of metal, stoner, sludge, pop, prog, funk, and psychedelia swirl around this CD, sometimes meshing, more often than not dancing around each other, occasionally battling, and always making for an incredibly diverse listen.
Before we all annoint Kylesa as the next Mastodon, we must realize that this band are leading into a totally different direction. More content to marry crushing stoner riffs with Janes Addiction styled vocals and 60's psychedelic trippy arrangements, Kylesa are onto something with stellar cuts such as "Crowded Road", "Cheating Synergy", and the creepy "Distance Closing In". There's so much going on here, yet it's not an epic, complex, proggy orgy by any means. When the band does mix atmospheric prog with their psychedelic edge, like on the addicting title track, the results are magical. The thunderous finale on this tune is absolutely breathtaking.
As I'm here trying to catch up with those gems from 2010 that I somehow missed, Spiral Shadow is definitely one that would have made my Best Of the Year list for sure. It signals the arrival, in a big way, of a band that is ready to make their mark on the metal world.
Track Listing
1. Tired Climb
2. Cheating Synergy
3. Drop Out
4. Crowded Road
5. Don't Look Back
6. Distance Closing In
7. To Forget
8. Forsaken
9. Spiral Shadow
10. Back and Forth
11. Dust
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