Kylesa

Originating from Savannah, Georgia, Kylesa function chiefly as a metal outfit yet defy easy classification, blending hardcore punk, psychedelic stoner rock, technical speed metal, and classic Black Sabbath sludge throughout their sound. Their deployment of three distinct singers rather than one central voice also grants a breadth absent from many comparable groups.

Kylesa came together in Savannah during 2001, drawing their distinctive name from “kilesa mara,” the Buddhist concept of demons tied to defilement and delusion. Guitarist and singer Phillip Cope and bassist Brian Duke, both previously of the Savannah grindcore band Damad, which issued two albums in the 1990s, formed the core, joined by guitarist and singer Laura Pleasants and drummer Brandon Baltzley. Following a single and a split EP with Memento Mori, work on the debut album ended abruptly when Duke suffered a fatal epileptic seizure. With bassist and singer Corey Barhorst stepping in, the group finished its self-titled debut, issued in late 2002. Additional singles and the interim EP No Ending 110 Degree Heat Index from 2004 preceded a deal with Prosthetic Records and the arrival of the second full-length, To Walk a Middle Course, in 2005.

After that release Baltzley departed, and the band adopted dual drummers Jeff Porter and Carl McGinley. The third album, Time Will Fuse Its Worth, appeared on Halloween 2006, succeeded by Static Tensions in 2009. Kylesa ventured further into psychedelic territory with Spiral Shadow, which surfaced on Season of Mist in 2010, a direction that continued on the more melodic and expansive sixth album, Ultraviolet, in 2013.

Cope and Pleasants nevertheless kept composing, amassing riffs, melodies, and production concepts ahead of an intensive tour extending into 2014. Upon returning to the studio alongside drummer Carl McGinley, they mined that accumulated material. In July 2015 they confirmed the approaching arrival of The Exhausting Fire, led by the single “Lost and Confused.” Cut at the Jam Room in Columbia, South Carolina and produced by Cope, the record gathered and intensified nearly every texture Kylesa had previously pursued while introducing fresh elements. The Exhausting Fire reached stores on October 2.