khemmis - deceiver

this band can do no bad record, it seems. an all around doom metal banger by these americans. waited for a cool vinyl version to surface and in this case patience paid off. super lovely pink/black merge vinyl out of 500 copies. nuclear blast. 2021.

khemmis - doomed heavy metal

khemmis coming up with their new e.p. to shorten the wait for their new full length in progress. to be fair, this e.p. doesn't provide too much new material, none to be precise. an old song, two covers and three live tracks. everybody came for the dio cover, i guess, but to me the winner on here is "empty throne".

completionists already have the decibel flexi disc, on which the song was featured three years ago. i don't and so this was new to me. pretty good to say the least, just as the dio cover "rainbow in the dark". the rest are fillers. still, the vinyl colour looks uber awesome! 500 copies pressed. 20 buck spin records. 2020.

khemmis - desolation

the announcement of khemmis' new full length "desolation" gave me a thrill of anticipation. the first reason for this delight was an obvious one: a new khemmis full length. secondly i was happy that they signed an almost worldwide (excluding north america) deal with nuclear blast which would spare me the agony of ordering vinyl from the states. when pre-orders went live i didn't waste a second and ordered a copy of the limited orange vinyl.

with my copy in hands the first thing that jumps at me looking at the cover is the consistency in artwork throughout their records. again the two main characters, the wizard and the warrioress, are to be seen. this time united in bitterness, it seems. musically khemmis went by the motto "why fix what ain't broke?" and delivered what will become a modern classic. same recipe as on "absolution" and "hunted" but simply better. check the video for "isolation".

the orange copies already sold out at nuclear blast but they now have a second press on blue to offer. i have to admit that in comaprison with the 20 buck spin (the label that handled vinyl affairs for north america) vinyl versions, the nb version falls a bit flat but all in all i am really happy with the look. great cover sleeve with bronze foil print, cool lp-sized booklet with more art and the nice solid orange vinyl make for a clean and neat presentation. 300 copies made. nuclear blast. 2018.

khemmis - hunted

khemmis is the new force to be reckoned with in doom metal at the moment. their first record "absolution" which was released in summer last year hit the metal scene like a sledge hammer and was praised by the press as one of the best doom albums of the year. rightfully so as long as i am concerned, even though i jumped on the band wagon a bit late and bought a third press copy only a few months ago. a year after "absolution" was unleashed, 20 buck spin announced the follow-up release "hunted", set to be put out in late october 2016.

the pre-orders were going live in early september and i was ready to put some money towards a limited colour vinyl version. when i read the descriptions for the several vinyl colours, it appeared that 20 buck spin was selling a silver version via nuclear blast and a very few of the shop exclusive electric blue edition via vàn records from germany upon release date. back when i ordered my copy of "absolution" from 20 buck spin, i wasn't aware of the partnership between the two labels.

i missed the chance to order an exclusive colour-way with reasonable shipping charges. but not this time, i said to myself. so i waited. it was quite hard to see the limited electric blue version sell out over at 20 buck spin. i e-mailed the vàn records team to ask if i could pre-order the khemmis record but got no reply. as there was no specific date announced when the record was available, i started to check the vàn page on a daily basis. paranoia of a record collector. when the record showed up in the store last weekend, i didn't hestitate to order a copy straight away.

vàn even had some sea blue inside ultra clear vinyl copies on offer but of course i chose the sick white inside electric blue with silver and black splatter vinyl (pretty long description for a colour-way, huh?). musically this is just the keeping of what "absolution" promised. melodic doom metal in perfection. no big talk, just listen to the whole album by clicking this youtube link. listen and stand in awe. my colour-way, as all the colour vinyl of the first press, is limited to 150 copies. comes with a nice 8" booklet and a slip sleeve with foil print and a coloured inside. sharp! 20 buck spin records. 2016.

khemmis - absolution

so this is the other record that arrived two days ago. the very metal one. it is khemmis' first full length called 'absolution'. khemmis and me had a long way coming. when this album was released almost a year ago, i was aware of it because i get the 20 buck spin newsletter. i really found the cover art real cool but i never managed to listen to them. after that the album crossed my path here and there in one form or another but still there must have been more important records. when 20 buck spin announced the third press in a few months, i decided to finally check what the buzz was all about.

i listened to the whole record with the help of a complete album stream on the tube and was blown away. this is lovely doom metal the way i like it. ominously melodic and crushingly heavy. the label draw comparisons to bands such as pallbearer or yob and i think these are quite accurate. if you are into the aforementioned music groups then khemmis will be right up your alley. the six songs are doom metal perfection. maybe a little too close to the pallbearer sound at times but for a debut record it is outstandingly good. what is pretty unique about them is that the singer has one of those great classic metal voices and is able to produce quite some guttural growls as well. makes the overall sound very dynamic.

again, the cover art is looking sharp. wish i had such a pretty assassin to rid myself of opposing wizards. since i thought that 20 buck spin is selling their colour copies through their web shop exclusively, i ordered from the states which meant high shipping costs in the same breath. little did i know that van records from germany had some in stock too. now their copies are gone but i will check back for later 20 buck spin releases to save on shipping. 200 copies made on this lovely gold inside clear w/ white splatter. 20 buck spin records. 2015/2016.