Burning Cold LP
Prank, 2000
I was on a Kylesa kick the other day, excited about hearing that the band was reuniting to play Roadburn Festival and perhaps recording their first new material since 2015, when I pulled this beast off the shelf and had it thoroughly blow my face off. Holy hell has it aged well. As solid as Kylesa’s output is, the tidal force of Burning Cold is still jaw-dropping in its intensity. This swan song from the Savannah powerhouse and Kylesa predecessor delivers punishing, Southern sludge riffage of the sickest and stickiest variety that only wafts up from the humid heat of the Gulf Coast, enhanced with textural guitar aesthetics and layers of mossy grime that will inhabit your ringing eardrums. On top of that massive guitar lode and Brian Duke’s (R.I.P.) snarling, snake-like bass lines, it’s the raspy, possessed snarl of Victoria Scalisi (R.I.P.) that really takes this album to a whole other level. Truly one of a kind. I was lucky enough to see the band live and can attest that their intensity was the real deal. Add to the next-level sludge original Pushead cover art and you’ve got a bonafide classic that doesn’t get nearly the love it’s earned.