Article By: Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker ‡ Edited By: Leanne Ridgeway
San Bonifacio, Italy’s Kayleth has once again successfully escaped the Earth’s gravity, doing so via their newest full-length, ‘Colossus‘. The record rockets from the Argonauta Records launch pad today, Friday, January 12th, and Riff Relevant is proudly premiering the full stream of it here with a review!
Kayleth has been rapidly ascending, gaining more and more height, as they propel toward their cosmic destiny. From their formation in 2005, they quickly rose to radar-worthy prominence with several self-produced EPs that include ‘Not Yet’ (2006), ‘In The Womb Of Time’ (2008), ‘Rusty Gold’ (2010), and ‘The Survivor’ (2012).
Their 2015 full-length for Argonauta, ‘Space Muffin’, was a spectacular stand-alone sonic exploration of all that makes the band such a worthwhile pursuit.
With their enthralling blend of psychedelia-rife Space / Desert / Stoner Rock, Kayleth is prepared to really blow minds with today’s ‘Colossus‘ payload. With powerful compositions being mined as the fuel for their infinity-crossing engine, Enrico Gastaldo (vocals), Massimo Dalla Valle (guitar), Alessandro Zanetti (bass), Daniele Pedrollo (drums), and Michele Montanari (synths), have truly accelerated their band’s velocity with this album offering.
Those more recent additions of Michele’s synthesizers from the band’s previous record return here, sparking an incredibly fulfilling scope to the Kayleth sound. The added textures once again incorporate an alluring dynamic to the content overall, enhancing already stellar songs to where at times they achieve seemingly otherworldly states. Of course, there must be something of an exceptional base, to begin with, and the crew of Kayleth surely crafts such here.
From the phenomenal rollout of the introductory track “Lost In The Swamp“, the band quickly shoots for the stars and continues that trajectory with other enticing numbers. There are inertia-defying inserts, like the driving “Ignorant Song“, “So Distant“, and pummeling “Solitude“. Each is a hard-hitting, faster-paced track that thumps with rhythmic pulses and thick grooves.
There are obvious descents into fuzzened, doomier realms on other songs, ones such as the “Colossus” title track or “Pitchy Mantra” are fine examples. One of my favorites is “The Angry Man“, a hard-hitting transmission of epic depth and solid structuring.
Speaking of structures, the vocals on this album are also of superb quality, having just the right effects with airier elements when called for. Those airier elements are ever-present in the music, like the ethereally-tinted tracks that bring this opus to a close, “The Escape” and “Oracle“. The first has them as periodic placements, offsetting the song’s heavier aspects and create a nice fluidity overall. In the latter number, things stay rooted in the ether, creating a tranquil feel that cradles you in a groovy calm, at times reminding me of Greece’s fine export, Nightstalker.
In fact, fans of such bands as Nightstalker or Monster Magnet, Orange Goblin, or the source themselves, Kyuss, will instantly embrace the Kayleth take on these influencing factors. In other words, if you like them then you will assuredly dig this!
Enjoy our premiere of today’s Argonauta Records release, Kayleth‘s ‘Colossus‘. Strap in and take it for a spin around the block or off the planet, whichever. I have a feeling these rockets are not gonna cool at any point soon and hey, that is just alright with me.
