Adventurous return to trodden paths - A review of Khemmis' Desolation

American doom metal quartet Khemmis offers a truly gorgeous cover artwork for its third full length record Desolation that honors Egyptian mythology but also artworks of several progressive and psychedelic rock bands of the seventies. There are further similarities to this era of adventurous rock music such as the fact that this release only offers six songs which however have extended running times adding up to a little bit more than forty minutes of immersive doom metal. The grounded production also blends in perfectly and makes for a quite homogeneous release.

Khemmis is one of the more melodic doom metal bands. The charismatic clean vocals are soothing, hypnotizing and appeasing. Numerous melodic guitar solos recalling classic heavy metal and a few appeasing acoustic guitar passages offer welcome changes from the slow and sinister riffs torn in the background that are fighting their way back to the forefront. The rhythm section on the other side is heavy, precise and steady. The musicianship is usually adventurous enough to justify song lengths between four and a half and nine and a half minutes. Khemmis sound more concise than similar bands like Pallbearer.

Genre fans will certainly appreciate this immersive release and I wouldn't be surprised if this album were to be elected as record of the year by some people since doom metal is back in vogue these days. However, I would describe Desolation as good record but nothing more. The main reason is that Khemmis rarely manages to stand out among the impressive number of doom metal bands these days. The quartet doesn't offer anything that one hasn't heard similarly and sometimes better before. The slow and sinister parts can't equal what Candlemass have done in the past. The few parts with harsh vocals aren't as dramatic and efficient than Opeth at the height of its career. The melodic vocals are nowhere near as haunting as what genre leaders Black Sabbath had to offer. Even among similar contemporary stoner metal bands from the United States of America, a group like Baroness is simply catchier than Khemmis. The six songs on this record have great pace and flow but don't stick out and fail to leave a deeper impression. The sum might be greater than its parts in this particular genre but I feel Khemmis could still improve its songwriting by a notch to find its own unique identity. 

In the end, Khemmis' Desolation is a very good doom metal record with some adventurous passages in form of some faster passages, melodic guitar solos recalling traditional heavy metal and a few harsh vocals contrasting the hypnotizing clean lead vocals. However, the songs fail to be truly memorable and to add anything new to the genre one hasn't heard before. If you are an unconditional doom metal fan who already owns the best records from anything between Black Sabbath and Baroness, you can give this release a try and you will certainly enjoy it. If that isn't the case however, you should ignore this release and listen to some more remarkable doom metal first.

Final rating: 75%