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Desolation

by Khemmis

/
1.
Bloodletting 06:24
Have we gone blind? I used to sing of finding light in the darkened skies above No fleeting glimpse All hope is bleeding from this shell The wolves are snapping at all sides Consuming fear The faith I held is fractured like a mirror Both sides reflect the darkness of the other Without the will to look inside We cut our wrists on the divide And I am bleeding out with no one there beside me No fleeting glimpse No hope remains inside this hell The noose is gripping at my neck with every breath Our life is drained We’re being punished for our crimes The executioner calls out a final time Offering wealth and wine, take my hand and twist the knife We’re depraved and reviled, welcoming eternal night The faith I held is fractured like a mirror Both sides reflect the darkness of the other Without the will to look inside We cut our wrists on the divide And I’m retreating now into the silence of the starless skies Into the starless skies Eternal rest Merciful death
2.
Isolation 04:48
Tormenting silence, the endless days bleed into Nights where I begin to fade away Burdened by failure, cannot remember why we Hide within this fractured veil Born of death, hiding just beneath the flesh Desolate, this heart yearns for a reprieve How could I pray for salvation? When I’m the only mourner left to grieve Baptized in shadows, cleansed by the pain I bury Betrayed by pretending I’m alive Born of death, hiding just beneath the flesh Desolate, this heart yearns for a reprieve How could I pray for salvation? When I’m the only mourner left to grieve There he was laid to rest I’m dreaming of your call that will never come Holding on by a thread
3.
On my knees again in familiar lands Echoes pierce the dark and to the left he stands Open yourself to me and take the eucharist Climbing down my throat, the snake begins to hiss In this past I hide, still you feel me Rings of smoke obscure my eyes The memory, the loss and shame, don’t define me But I fear that is a lie Lost forever in the tides Of a voice that’s calling from inside Words are locusts, scratching out our eyes We’re bondsmen feigning freedom but ensnared Silent passenger, he who guides my way Chained within my mind until the end of days No one escapes his wrath, for he is always near Clinging to my neck, paralyzed with fear From the depths I cry, no one answers Overtaken by the tides Deep inside, a spark remains, growing stronger Let the blaze consume the binds Run away, cast off his weight, remove the shackles Take the reins while I have time This body, no longer a vessel From flesh to scars to flesh to nothing In his empty promise, I reject that I am broken Make way, I have time
4.
The Seer 06:02
Circle the skies in search of carrion Silhouetted by a blood red moon A silent seer preying on my mind The lurking fear tears at my eyes When the night falls and the fog grows Seek the shelter of these blackened wings Flee the sunrise so I won’t find That I might rise on these tattered wings Why would I raise my eyes to danger above? I keep my gaze upon the graves When the scavengers feast upon what’s left Only a husk remains, rotten and bereft When the night falls and the fog grows Seek the shelter of these blackened wings Flee the sunrise so I won’t find That I might rise on these shattered wings So long beholden to heresy And drifting away from the sun Until the talons rip at my flesh Lifting, I rise from the earth I am grasping at air For my earthly remains When we thought we were flying We were falling again
5.
Maw of Time 07:23
Burn the pyre to our daughters’ pain In the fire there can be no eulogy Swine and sickness, shrouded in disgrace Ordained sinners preying on her memory Cast out of Eden Her flesh a sacrament Corrupt. Enshrine. Upon an altar of her bones Confess. Betray. The sky is burning red Renounce. Decay. We lie beneath the stones Salvation’s but the gilded door of the abattoir One by one, all will bleed for her Our legacy, a world reduced to ash Souls of black — barren, diseased Hide behind the mask Hunt the vultures Bring them to their knees Bind and gag them, waiting for their fall from grace In the darkness Tear the mask away Hollow rulers trading their power for decay Cast out of Eden Her flesh a sacrament Corrupt. Enshrine. We built an altar of her bones Confess. Betray. The sky is burning red Renounce. Decay. We drain the chalice We — We are echoes of loss Are — In the absence of light Dust — Wrought of corruption, unworthy of redemption Shadow — Tombstones, an endless grave Fragments of root and bone Time becomes our tomb We are destined to rot eternal Consumed by a world forsaken, we will not be mourned
6.
From Ruin 09:27
So here I rest I’ve come undone Somewhere behind these eyes Rising from the thorns Beyond the endless nightmares There’s still a soul I’m reaching out to catch a breath To brave the storm The fog is closing in Upon a freezing night Far from the love I’ve known Give me the strength to carry on Deep in the forest I am alone again A warmth begins to rise Fighting back the dread And when I close my eyes I swear I smell the smoke I used to know before the fall And now you’re gone There’s a fire Set ablaze in my heart Casting a shadow On the cycle of thoughts That pull me away From the dance of the gods Leave it behind me To burn in the dawning light Sure as the spring Casts a light on the snow I have awakened To the ashes anew They’re burning away Though I yearn to hold on Knowing that I can accept this life Unblinded, renewed Out of the darkest night No one could help me find the way But in the new spring dawn I find the strength to carry on

about

Anticipation was high for the release of ‘Hunted’ in 2016, the sophomore album from Denver’s Khemmis and follow up to acclaimed debut ‘Absolution’ . Rather than the all too common sophomore slump, Khemmis raised the stakes and blew everyone away with their rapidly progressing songwriting and production quality, culminating in ‘Hunted’ being named Album Of The Year for 2016 by Decibel Magazine.

Now in 2018, after wrapping up the Decibel Magazine Tour with Enslaved, Wolves In The Throne Room and Myrkur, the excitement for Khemmis’s third album ‘Desolation’, due June 22nd, is palpable across the metal spectrum. Fortunately, when you hail from a place known as the Mile High City lofty expectations come with the territory and the band has created what will come to be known as the definitive Khemmis classic.

From the stadium-sized opening notes of ‘Bloodletting’ it is immediately evident that Khemmis are again putting distance between themselves and their earlier influences to inform a sound that is singularly their own. ‘Isolation’, recently aired live on the Decibel Tour, is the album’s lead single and most immediate track, with the classic metal melodies the band have become revered for shining throughout. On epic closer ’From Ruin’ and throughout the entirety of the album, the lead vocals and melodies of Phil Pendergast are the clearest, most powerful and best arranged that the band has achieved. Working for the third time with Dave Otero at Flatline Audio in Denver, the band and producer now have the familiarity and mutual experience to arrive at the perfect symbiosis of songwriting, arrangement and production value.

While Khemmis are undeniably influenced by Doom and Classic Metal, to tag them with those labels doesn’t do justice to what’s accomplished on ‘Desolation’, a perfect representation of modern Heavy Metal in 2018 that integrates the past in a way only possible in the present. ‘Desolation’ is not just the best Khemmis record to date but a testament to the quality that Heavy Metal is still capable of.

credits

released June 22, 2018

All songs © Khemmis 2018
Produced, engineered, and mastered by Dave Otero at Flatline Audio
Art by Sam Turner

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Khemmis Denver, Colorado

Doomed heavy metal.

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