ULTRAVIOLET

Purple Sludgefest.

Since the 2006 album "Time Will Fuse Its Worth", Kylesa's straightforward sludge-feasts have appealed to me. The great banquet arrived with "Static Tensions", a monster of an experience that can be nothing but a treat for the senses of a serious metal-head: an LP that consistently keeps you hooked thanks to its thick stoner atmosphere and catchy songwriting. Other fans, however, are more drawn to the follow-up, "Spiral Shadow", whose sound glides towards more adventurous pathways, losing a bit of heaviness down the road. 2013's "Ultraviolet" to me feels like a return to the catchiness of "Static Tensions", displaying however a whole new brand of contrivances, which assembled together construct an album unlike anything Kylesa has brought to life before.

The new production understandably has turned off some fans; but it is the main game-changer. Thanks to some rough reverberation, a vividly psychedelic vein flows throughout each song. It is this vein that makes Kylesa's groovy pulses sound so different. Furthermore, I must add that I'm sensing a greater sensibility towards melody than usual, which drives these Stoner Metal vibrations on even smoother ground.

Once again, Kylesa stick to one of their best talents, which is being able to remain consistent in terms of impact throughout the album, by spicing things differently for each track. But even when the distortion levels are turned down, there's still a good life pulse that brings the music on such high planes of energy. Weak spots for sure are not absent, and some of the songwriting either trips or gets lost in the haze of the production. But songs such as "Exhale", "Unspoken", "Long Gone", "Vulture's Landing" and "Drifting" are episodes not to be missed, and greatly contribute in constructing another steady and pleasant Kylesa record.