Khemmis (Self-Titled Fifth Album)
Khemmis · Doom Metal / Heavy Metal
Reviewed 2026-06-14
The Roast
“Åh, hvor dristigt af jer, Khemmis. Fem albummer dybere og I kiggede endelig hinanden i øjnene og sagde: 'Hvad skal vi kalde det her?' og trak på skuldrene i kor. Et selvbetitlet album som nummer fem er enten en dyb kunstnerisk genfødsel eller et band, der står på studieparkeringspladsen og siger: 'Vi løb tør for idéer før vi overhovedet nåede til titelbladet.' I brugte fem år på at lave en opfølger til Deceiver, slæbte en ny bassist ved navn David Small ind i jeres ritualkreds, og det bedste branding-trick, I kunne fremtryllerI var jeres eget navn. Dristigt. Dovnt. Muligvis begge dele. Nu skal jeg være retfærdig: 'heavy metal-ritualet' som rammehistorie er ægte klog på papiret. At åbne med 'Invocation of the Dreamer' og lukke med 'Benediction Tones' giver køreplanen på otte numre en tilfredsstillende ceremoniel bue, som om I faktisk planlagde det her i stedet for bare at håbe på, at nummerlisten sortererede sig selv. Men Ben Hutcherson går på record og siger, at målet var et 'stramt, højenergetisk album', der indebar 'glæden ved heavy metal' arbejder enormt hårdt for et doom metal-band. Glæde? I doom? I spiller en genre, der opfandt ligsalmemusikken, og I vil have glæde? Hør her: jeres amp-indstillinger skriver et helt andet notat. Optaget igen på Flatline Audio med Dave Otero i Westminster, Colorado, ligger dette album fint og bekvemt på en mistænkelig måde. Samme studio, samme stat, samme producer, ny bassist, samme resultat: kritikere kalder det jer på jeres 'mest autentiske og mest energifyldte form.' Hvilket er en dejlig kompliment pakket ind omkring en stille anklage om, at de fire foregående albummer var jer på jeres mindst ærlige og mest trætte. Tour-navnet 'Forsake the Light' på den europæiske turné er ægte nok det mest metal ved hele denne udgivelsescyklus, og det er ikke engang en sangtitel, det er en tour announcement. I lod logistik-afdelingen være mere metal end musikafdelingen. Det er en receipts-situation, det er det.”
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The Bright Side
Men her er pointen: ritual-konceptet holder faktisk stand. At åbne med 'Invocation of the Dreamer' og lande på 'Benediction Tones' er et strukturelt valg, der respekterer lytteren nok til at give dem en begyndelse og en slutning, en fuld ceremoni i stedet for bare en spilleliste. At få David Small som ny bassist uden at ødelægge bandens identitet tyder på ægte musikaliskkonfidence, ikke skørhed. Og 'Beneath the Scythe' som pre-release single-titel er præcis den slags truende, lide-ligegyldig doom-poesi, der minder jer om, hvorfor Khemmis egentlig eksisterer. Christopher Remmers håndterer kunstværket og holder det visuelle sprog konsistent og gennemtænkt. Dette er et band, der tydeligvis elsker det, de laver, og den elskede, irriterende nok, kommer igennem.
Hardest Sneer
“I navngav jeres femte album efter jer selv, hvilket enten er et mesterskab i selvtillid eller bevis på, at ritualet spiste den del af jeres hjerne, der var ansvarlig for titler.”
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Issues (4)
The Self-Title Cop-Out
Receipt
This is Khemmis's FIFTH studio album. Self-titled debuts are a tradition. Self-titled fifth albums are a white flag with a pentagram on it. Nuclear Blast's own announcement frames it as a 'follow-up to their 2021 album Deceiver,' a record with a perfectly evocative one-word title. Going from 'Deceiver' to literally just 'Khemmis' is a creative regression dressed up as a statement.
Fix
If the album is genuinely a ritual and a rebirth, lean into the ceremony. A title like 'The Rite' or 'Invocation' drawn directly from your own track listing would have communicated the same rebirth narrative without making it look like you forgot to finish the packaging.
Joy in a Doom Band: Investigate
Receipt
Hutcherson stated the goal was writing a 'tight, high-energy album' that 'embodied the joy of heavy metal.' Khemmis plays doom metal. The genre's entire emotional palette is grief, dread, and the slow collapse of everything. Promising 'joy' from a band whose tour is literally called 'Forsake the Light' is a brand identity crisis wearing a leather jacket.
Fix
Own the tension instead of resolving it in press quotes. 'We wanted to capture the catharsis and power of doom' tells a more honest story than 'joy,' and it does not accidentally make your fanbase wonder if you have gone soft.
Same Studio, Fifth Time: Comfort Zone Alert
Receipt
Flatline Audio with Dave Otero in Westminster, Colorado has now produced multiple Khemmis records. Early critics are calling this album Khemmis 'in their truest and most energized form,' which implies the previous records produced in the same room were somehow less true and less energized. If your own comfort zone was quietly limiting you for years, that is a problem your producer should have flagged, not critics on album five.
Fix
A single session outside Flatline Audio, even a writing retreat or a guest collaboration tracked elsewhere, would inject genuine sonic disruption into the next cycle. Familiarity is the enemy of reinvention, and you cannot call something a rebirth if it was born in the exact same hospital.
Eight Tracks and No Announced Runtime: Suspicious Ambiguity
Receipt
The Nuclear Blast announcement confirms eight tracks and a June 12, 2026 release date but provides no total runtime. For a doom metal record where track length is a core part of the experience, leaving fans to guess whether they are getting 38 minutes of tight heavy metal or 74 minutes of ritual endurance is a marketing gap that creates the wrong kind of mystery.
Fix
Lead with the runtime in your press materials. Doom fans do not fear long albums, they celebrate them. If this record runs long, that is a feature, not a spoiler. If it runs short, own the 'tight' angle Hutcherson already telegraphed and make it a selling point.