| Kylesa | |
| Image Upright: | 1.25 |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Origin: | Savannah, Georgia, U.S. |
| Years Active: | 2001–2016, 2024-present |
| Current Members: | Phillip Cope Laura Pleasants Carl McGinley |
| Past Members: | Eric Hernandez Chase Rudseal Jeff Porter Brandon Baltzley Christian Depken Brian Duke Corey Barhorst Tyler Newberry |
Kylesa is an American sludge metal band that was formed in Savannah, Georgia. Their music incorporates experimentalism with heavy riffs, drop-tuned guitars and elements of psychedelic rock.[1] The group was established in 2001 by the former members of Damad, with the addition of guitar player Laura Pleasants who is from North Carolina.[2]
The band has since undergone lineup changes; the remaining original members are Phillip Cope and Laura Pleasants. In 2006, the band added two drummers, Carl McGinley and Jeff Porter. Eric Hernandez joined in 2008 to replace Porter. In April 2016, the band announced that they would be going on an indefinite hiatus. On August 20, 2024 Roadburn Festival announced a reunion of Kylesa at their 2025 edition.
Kylesa formed in Savannah in 2001, taking their name from "kilesa mara", a Buddhist term denoting delusory mental states.[3]
Guitarist and singer Phillip Cope, bassist Brian Duke, and drummer Christian Depken were former members of the Savannah sludge metal act Damad, which had released two albums in the '90s. Philip Cope has been described as the Savannah "metal scene's godfather". He began playing in hardcore punk groups in the late 1980s, and in 1992 booked groups such as Buzzoven and Neurosis at a local all-ages club. From 1993 to 2001, Cope played in the group Damad, which included vocalist Victoria Scalisi. Pat Mathis of the Passive Fist label said that Damad "established a sound that's stuck-- that whole heavy, doomy Southern kind of metal. When you've got these old punk guys who listen to the Allman Brothers and start a metal band, that's kind of what you get."[4] Damad changed their name to Kylesa in 2001 with the addition of Laura Pleasants, a native of North Carolina who attended the Savannah College of Art and Design.[4]
After recording the majority of their first record (self-titled Kylesa on Prank Records) in May 2001, the band played their first show with Mastodon and Cream Abdul Babar in Savannah, Georgia on June 2, 2001. On June 6, 2001, Brian Duke died from an epileptic seizure during the course of the night. The band decided to finish the recording in his honor, wrote and recorded two more songs (where local bass player and friend Michael Redmond stepped in and played bass). The self-titled record was released about one year later when artwork by Pushead was completed. Prior to the full LP, a single limited 7-inch was released on Prank Records, also using artwork by Pushead. The Pushead-designed band logo from these releases has been used on all the band's merchandise and releases ever since.
Replacing Duke with bassist and singer Corey Barhorst, the band wrote and recorded a split 7-inch with Memento Mori on Hyperrealist, and a split full-length with Cream Abdul Babar from Florida on At a Loss Recordings. These records came out immediately following the release on Prank despite being recorded much later, due to the long wait for artwork by Pushead delaying the release of the self-titled LP. More singles and a placeholder EP, 2004's No Ending 110 Degree Heat Index, followed right before Depken left the group.
Kylesa signed with the independent metal label Prosthetic Records and released their second proper album, To Walk a Middle Course, in 2005 with drummer Brandon Baltzley.
Following the release of that album, Baltzley left the group, replaced by a pair of drummers, Carl McGinley (of Unpersons) and Jeff Porter. Kylesa's third album, Time Will Fuse Its Worth, was released on Halloween 2006. Eric Hernandez (of Capsule) replaced Porter and appears on Static Tensions, released in 2009.[5] Two songs on this album were inspired by the shooting of Jason Statts, a Savannah musician.[4] They toured with Mastodon after the release of this album, whose guitarist, Bill Kelliher, said that
As of 2010, Kylesa had sold 75,000 albums.[6] In 2010, they signed with Season of Mist to release the album Spiral Shadow on October 26 that year.[7] A rarities compilation album titled From the Vaults, Vol. 1 was released later that year.[8]
Their sixth album, Ultraviolet, was released through Season of Mist in May 2013. The record is said to be darker lyrically and sonically than previous works, containing more vocals from singer/guitarist Laura Pleasants.[9] The band embarked on a full North America headlining tour to promote the release with direct support from Blood Ceremony, White Hills and Lazer Wulf.[10] In October 2015, the group released their seventh album, Exhausting Fire, through Season of Mist.[11]
In April 2016, the band announced in a Facebook post that they would be going on an indefinite hiatus.[12]
Kylesa is most often classified as a sludge and stoner metal band.[13] AllMusic stated that the band borrows "elements of hardcore punk, psychedelic stoner rock, technical speed metal, and good old-fashioned Black Sabbath sludge."[14] The dual drum tracks are often panned strongly to the right and left. The band has two singers, Phillip Cope and Laura Pleasants.
Journalist David Peisner of Spin described Kylesa as "dark psych-metal titans", practicing an "aggressive [sound], but with a hazy, stoner vibe that suggests a strange amalgamation of Black Sabbath, Black Flag, and early Pink Floyd."[15]