Spiral Shadow

iTunes Review

Just as Black Mountain made stoner-rock commercially accessible, Kylesa’s fifth studio album succeeds at making heavy acid-rock melodic and catchy while keeping their early sludge-metal tones intact. “Tired Climb” opens their fifth studio album with a mellow ascending intro of complex arrangements before the song suddenly explodes, throwing distorted punches as Phillip Cope and Laura Pleasants’ vocals go head-to-head; his inflections shouting war cries and her gauzy croons providing a dreamy contrast. “Cheating Synergy” dares to mix crunchy garage-rock riffs with heady prog guitar lines to birth what could quite possibly be the first garage-prog hybrid. The band tunes in and turns on with “Drop Out,” a wonderfully meandering psychedelic epic boasting astral spaced-out guitar effects and mind blinding soundscapes played at slower tempos. “Crowded Road” lets loose with some of the best guitar interplay between Cope and Pleasants, especially in the middle where tribal drum beats drive an Eastern influence into guitar leads that magically morph into a moment of British heavy-metal influence as the tune dissolves into sonic sludge. Spiral Shadow is Kylesa’s best release yet.