Khemmis (Self-Titled Fifth Album)
Khemmis · Doom Metal / Heavy Metal
Reviewed 2026-06-14
The Roast
“Oh, kako junački od tebe, Khemmis. Pet albuma duboko i konačno ste se pogledali u oči i rekli: "Kako bismo ovo trebali nazvati?" i zajedno povukli ramena. Samonazivna plača na broju pet je ili duboka umjetnička rebirtha ili bend koji stoji na parkiralištu studija govoreći: "Ponestalo nam je ideja prije nego što smo uopće stigli do naslovnice." Pet godina ste kuhali odgovor na Deceiver, uvukli ste novog basista Davida Smalla u vašu ritualnu kružok, a najbolja poteza u branding području koju ste mogli smisliti je bilo vaše vlastito ime. Odvažno. Lijenivo. Moguće oboje.\n\nSada, na vašu čast, "ritual teškoga metala" kao okvir je stvarno pametan na papiru. Otvaranje sa "Invocation of the Dreamer" i završetak sa "Benediction Tones" daje osam pjesama dugačkoj runtajmi zadovoljavajući ceremonijalni luk, kao da ste stvarno planirali ovdje umjesto da samo nadajte se da će se tracklist sortirati sam. Ali Ben Hutcherson koji je rekao za zapisnik da je cilj bila "čvrsta, visokoenergična album" koja воплощава "radost teškoga metala" radi puno PR-a za doom metal bend. Radost? U doom-u? Vi igrate žanr koji je izmislio spor marš i želite radost? Gospodine, vaše pojačalo piše potpuno drugačiju poruku.\n\nSnimljeno ponovo u Flatline Audio sa Dave Otero u Westminsteru, Colorado, ovaj album je udoban na najsumnjiviiji način moguć. Ista studija, ista država, isti producent, novi basist, isti rezultat: kritičari ga nazivaju vama na vašem "najistinitom i najenergizirantijem obliku." Što je lijepa kompliment omotana oko tihog optužbe da su prethodne četiri ploče bile vi na vašem najmanje iskrenom i najveće umljenom. "Forsake the Light" europatoska turnejna imena je stvarno najmetalnije o cijeloj ovoj kampanji za objavu, a to je čak ni nije naziv pjesme. Pustili ste da odjel za logistiku bude metalnije od odjela za glazbu. To je situacija sa dokazima.”
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The Bright Side
Ali evo stvari: ritualni koncept stvarno drži. Otvaranje sa "Invocation of the Dreamer" i slijetanje na "Benediction Tones" je strukturni izbor koji poštuje slušatelja dovoljno da mu da početak i kraj, puna ceremonija umjesto samo playslista. Unošenje Davida Smalla kao novog basista bez narušavanja identiteta benda sugeriše pravi glazbeni samopouzdanje, ne krhkost. I "Beneath the Scythe" kao naslov prije-objavljivanja je točno vrsta pretenciozne, srebrne doom-poezije koja vas podsjeća zašto Khemmis uopće postoji. Christopher Remmers koji drži slikarstvo čini da vizualni jezik ostane dosljedan i promišljen. Ovo je bend koji očito voli što radi, i ta ljubav, iritantno, prolazi dalje.
Hardest Sneer
“Nazvali ste vašu petu ploču sami sebi, što je ili majstorska lekcija u samopouzdanju ili dokaz da je ritual konzumirao dio vašeg mozga odgovoran za nazive.”
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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.