Kylesa‘s Static Tensions is an album I have been meaning to review for awhile, but haven’t. It is a simple case of an album being really fucking good and me not having the creativity (yes, this and Pulling Teeth are my two favourite records so far this year) to give this album a review that doesn’t reek of worship. However, no matter how many times I listen to it, or how long I wait to review it, I end up with the same conclusion: Static Tensions is the best ‘heavy’ album since Mastodon‘s Remission (which is funny because both bands are from Georgia. Baroness plays into this game of musical chairs as well, as they received much acclaim for the 2007 release Red Album).
Where to begin…how about track one? It is funny to say this after my opening paragraph, but opening track “Scapegoat” isn’t that strong. In fact, I’d argue that the first two tracks are the weakest on the album. Thing is, they aren’t even bad persay. Just bad in comparison to tracks like “Running Red” or “Nature’s Predators” (among others). While it is daring to open an album with your weakest tracks, it pays off for the Kylesa in the end – because by the end of the album you don’t remember them, but instead remember the other monstrous tracks (like the ones mentioned above). I feel like describing the songs to vividly on this album would be like spoiling a movie, so I will leave it at this…if by the end of “To Walk Alone” you aren’t feeling on top of the world, then you best be checking what genres you consider yourself a fan of. This is grade A metal.
Static Tensions is up there with Pulling Teeth’s Paranoid Delusions/Paradise Illusions, Animals As Leaders‘s self-titled effort, and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart‘s self-titled disc as 2009′s early album of the year favourite for yours truly.
So, in conclusion, check out this album, and those other three mentioned just above this sentence. You will thank me or something.
(8.7/10)
You may also dig:
Pingback: Logan’s Top 10 of 2009 | hearwax