Denver, Colorado-based powerful doom metal quartet KHEMMIS has completed their second full-length album, and is preparing the mighty Hunted for Autumn release through 20 Buck Spin, this week unveiling the cover art, track listing, and other details. The news comes as the band prepares to tour the Western half of the country in transit to their performance at the first annual Migration Festival the second weekend of August.
Using the same team as their lauded debut, Hunted was recorded at Flatline Audio with Dave Otero (Cobalt, Nightbringer, Cephalic Carnage) and features artwork by Sam Turner (3 Inches Of Blood, Black Breath, TRVE Brewing). Hunted is undoubtedly an album that will solidify KHEMMIS‘ place at the vanguard of doom’s most notable modern manifestations, in large part because they transcend the label itself. They’ve seamlessly blended their influences into an extraordinarily listenable album worthy of countless spins. With such a glut of music released nowadays, Hunted stands apart, rewarding repeat listens with songs seared straight into the heart.
20 Buck Spin will issue Hunted on CD and digital formats on Friday, October 21st, with the vinyl to follow in November. Audio samples and further info will be announced shortly.
Hunted Track Listing:
1. Above The Water
2. Candlelight
3. Three Gates
4. Beyond The Door
5. Hunted
KHEMMIS‘ upcoming West Coast tour will begin in their hometown of Denver on August 4th, with Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, and Portland on the itinerary leading up to the band’s performance on August 12th at Migration Fest in Olympia. The festival also features the slated first live collaborative performance by The Body and Krieg, the first live public performance by Panopticon, a set by Australian funeral doom behemoths Mournful Congregation, and sets by Auroch, Christian Mistress, Full Of Hell, Krallice, Magic Circle, Nightfell, Obsequiae, Vastum, Vhol, and others.
KHEMMIS Tour Dates:
8/04/2016 HiDive – Denver, CO
8/05/2016 The Metro – Salt Lake City, UT
8/06/2016 OMD Theatre – Las Vegas, NV
8/07/2016 The Rogue – Phoenix, AZ
8/08/2016 The Griffin – Los Angeles, CA
8/09/2016 Golden Bull – Oakland, CA
8/10/2016 Starlite Lounge – Sacramento, CA
8/11/2016 Ash St. Saloon – Portland, OR
8/12/2016 Migration Fest – Olympia, WA
Hunted comes just over a year after the release of KHEMMIS‘ stunning Absolution debut, which caught the doom world by complete surprise, and set the band up as one of the scene’s favorite new artists. The album slowly but surely steamrolled all that came in contact with its unforgettable heaviness and classic melodicism. Virtually unknown outside Denver upon release, the band gathered acclaim over the ensuing months and by year end had landed in the #9 spot on Decibel Magazine’s annual Top 40 Albums Of The Year, not a small accomplishment for a band on its debut album.
Now their follow-up album, Hunted, reveals a KHEMMIS fortified in its purpose and vision, forging an unrivaled synthesis between immense doom riffs and ‘Maiden-esque harmony. Overall song length has increased yielding more expansively arranged and dramatic storms of elegance and melancholy. And yet the band’s members are not content to plod through a sea of tears; they are always a rock band first, in service to the movement of the song, even approaching a High On Fire-like pace to open the pummeling “Three Gates.” The lauded singing of vocalist Phil Pendergast reaches ascendant new heights on tracks like “Candlelight” and “Beyond The Door,” while the tasteful use of harsh vocals remains, providing a dark foreboding contrast. The thirteen-minute title track once again closes the album with an epic stunner.
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