Artist: Khemmis
Title: Doomed Heavy Metal
Genre: Doom Metal
Release Date: 17th April 2020
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
EP Review
Do you guys remember my hiatus? When I came back, I had tasted blood when it comes to Doom and I never knew of bands like KHEMMIS, guess what? I finally have my hands on a release I can review. So, what do we know? KHEMMIS is a four-piece Metal band that plays Doom infused lead Heavy Metal. Their debut ‘Absolution’ earned them, aside from critical acclaim, a slot on Decibel Magazine’s “Top 40 Albums of the Year” list in 2015. The follow-up ‘Hunted’ was even more of a breakthrough for the band as it got them a more widespread recognition across the USA. The last record ‘Desolation’ helped them reach a more international audience and now 2020 the even managed to get a review of this old Geezer here (that’s me). So here we are ‘Doomed Heavy Metal’ the EP (not the book, movie or soft drink).
Normally I am not a fan of live records but this is a very nice production I must admit and the three studio songs are great too. It is a sacrilege to cover DIO but ‘Rainbow in the Dark’ came out very nice because of Phil’s nice vocals and the top-notch instrumentation which makes it resemble the original at least instrumental-wise. The overall sound is a thing with KHEMMIS that I have not encountered very often. Very crisp and clear in one moment and in the next you realize the buzz of the guitar which makes it feel like an underlying humming (a few seconds it’s a wall and in the next it’s gone, strange but appealing). Now I understand why the guys don’t want to be just labelled Doom, it is Classic Heavy Metal with Doom, Stoner and maybe even Death Metal elements (here and there growls are a part of the songs). I highly recommend KHEMMIS to every Doom / Stoner / Classic Metal fan. Excuse me now I have to check out even more of them over at Bandcamp...
Tracklist
01. Rainbow in the Dark
02. A Conversation with Death
03. Empty Throne
04. Bloodletting (live)
05. Three Gates (live)
06. The Bereaved (live)
Line-up
Dan – Bass
Zach – Drums
Ben – Backing Vocals, Guitars
Phil – Lead Vocals, Guitars
Website
https://khemmisdoom.com / https://khemmis.bandcamp.com / https://www.facebook.com/khemmisdoom/
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 8
Sound: 8
Total: 8 / 10
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