Sometimes it’s nice to pause and reflect on the kind things people have to say. The other day I received an e-mail from Raf, the guitarist for Obiat. I recently reviewed Obiat’s new album, Eye Tree Pi, and apparently he liked it. He wrote, “If I would use only one description of our music out of all reviews from all over the globe it would be your review! Beautiful words yet perfectly describing our state of mind! Thank you!” You’re welcome, Raf. That’s one of the reasons I do this…

Ok, on with the list!

#22 Kylesa – Static Tensions

Normally I’m on guard about bands that just try to do too much, and with three different vocalists and two drummers, Kylesa walks that line. But I’ll be damned if they don’t make it work really well. It’s hard to pinpoint their sound, but if you called it a melodic hybrid of hardcore and pysch-metal, you’d be pretty close. Whatever it is though, it’s aggressive and sludgy, and if you’re at all familiar with bands like Baroness and Torche, you’ll dig Kylesa plenty. Plus, John Baizley of Baroness does the artwork on this one, and you know how I feel about his work. Conclusion? Static Tensions is just a great metal record.

Listen to “Scapegoat” from Static Tensions!

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Obiat
Eye Tree Pi
Small Stone

Obiat comes at you from England by way of Poland and is at once Mastodonian, Katatonian, and Wagnerian (as in Eric, as in Trouble) in all it does, and yet stand well on their own out on the furthest branches of the tallest tree on the highest mountain in your mind. Where Candlemass built shrines, Obiat builds satellites; both speak the same ancient language, but exist in a different space and time. Eye Tree Pi, the band’s third album, is some serious psychedelic doom, a heavy mathematical formula where cosmic dynamite fury plus mystic pagan heresy equals wicked acid flashbacks of aliens building Stonehenge under stormy red skies. So put on your silver jumpsuit, spaceman, and take shelter in the forest of all time.

Listen to “NoMad NoMind” from Eye Tree Pi.

Buy Eye Tree Pi from Small Stone.