''To Walk a Middle Course'' is the second studio album by American heavy metal band

Kylesa Kylesa is an American sludge metal band that was formed in Savannah, Georgia. Their music incorporates experimentalism with heavy riffs, Down-tuned guitar, drop-tuned guitars and elements of psychedelic rock. The group was established in 2001 by ...

. Released on March 22, 2005, by

Prosthetic Records Prosthetic Records is an American record label specializing in Heavy metal music, heavy metal recordings, founded in Los Angeles, California in 1998 by E.J. Johantgen and Dan Fitzgerald. Prosthetic Records released the first two albums by Lamb o ...

, it was produced by English record producer Alex Newport, who is known for his projects

Fudge Tunnel Fudge Tunnel were an English band formed in Nottingham by Alex Newport, David Ryley and Adrian Parkin. They were known for straddling noise rock and sludge metal, with their sound being compared to bands such as Melvins and Nirvana. History F ...

and

Nailbomb Nailbomb is a heavy metal band formed in 1993 as a side project by Brazilian musician Max Cavalera (then the frontman of Sepultura) and British musician Alex Newport of Fudge Tunnel. They played a combination of primarily industrial metal and ...

Music and composition

''To Walk a Middle Course'' incorporates elements of

sludge metal Sludge metal (also known as sludge doom or simply sludge) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that combines elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. The genre generally includes slow tempos, down-tuned guitars and nihilis ...

alternative metal Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music that combines heavy metal with influences from alternative rock and other genres not normally associated with metal. Alternative metal bands are often characterized by ...

and

stoner rock Stoner rock, also known as stoner metal or stoner doom, is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of doom metal with psychedelic rock and acid rock. The genre emerged during the early 1990s and was pioneered foremost by Kyuss and Sl ...

. The album features a variety of metal and non-metal influences, including

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

, stoner rock,

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

, and

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie an ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

critic Alex Henderson wrote, "Elements of

Neurosis Neurosis (: neuroses) is a term mainly used today by followers of Freudian thinking to describe mental disorders caused by past anxiety, often that has been repressed. In recent history, the term has been used to refer to anxiety-related con ...

Eyehategod Eyehategod (also abbreviated and referred to as EHG) is an American sludge metal band from New Orleans, Louisiana, who formed in 1988. They have become one of the better known bands to emerge from the NOLA metal scene. Their core lineup has r ...

Orange Goblin Orange Goblin are an English heavy metal band from London. Formed in 1995, the band's lineup currently consists of singer Ben Ward, guitarist Joe Hoare, drummer Chris Turner, and bassist Harry Armstrong. Their most recent album '' Science, Not ...

, and

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

assert themselves, as do elements of the

Melvins Melvins (sometimes the Melvins) are an American rock band formed in 1983 in Montesano, Washington. Their early work was key to the development of both grunge and sludge metal. Primarily a trio, they have also performed as a quartet, with eith ...

Lydia Lunch Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch; June 2, 1959)Martin Charles Strong. ''The Great Indie Discography''. 2003, page 85 is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no ...

, and X. Kylesa often employ the punky male vocals/punky female vocals contrast that worked so well for X in the '80s, although they're a much heavier band."

Blabbermouth.net ''Blabbermouth.net'' is a website dedicated to metal and rock news, as well as album and music DVD reviews. It is run by the website's founder Borivoj Krgin. The first version of the website was launched in March 2001. In October 2001, the rec ...

's Keith Bergman stated that the band "are all about throwing murky riffs, bottom-of-a-well screams, and lugubrious rhythms into a dour punk stew that name-checks everyone from old Neurosis to

Amebix Amebix were an English punk rock band from Tavistock, Devon. A pioneer of the crust punk genre, Amebix's merger of anarcho-punk and post-punk with elements of heavy metal music, heavy metal, particularly early extreme metal, inspired musicians ...

to Eyehategod to

Unsane ''Unsane'' is a 2018 American psychological thriller film directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Jonathan Bernstein and James Greer. The film stars Claire Foy, Joshua Leonard, Jay Pharoah, Juno Temple, Aimee Mullins, and Amy Irving. M ...

. ''Exclaim!'' critic Jill Mikkelson thought that the record has "prolonged, tension-building moments that sound similar to Keelhaul, mid-tempo riffing reminiscent of

Mastodon A mastodon, from Ancient Greek μαστός (''mastós''), meaning "breast", and ὀδούς (''odoús'') "tooth", is a member of the genus ''Mammut'' (German for 'mammoth'), which was endemic to North America and lived from the late Miocene to ...

and more emotionally driven, rock-chord progressions that add dynamic to the mud."

Critical reception

The album generally received mixed-to-positive reviews from music critics.

's Alex Henderson wrote: "Kylesa can be very dissonant, noisy, and discordant, but they aren't that way all the time; moments of sensory assault can easily be followed by passages that are moody, eerie, and darkly atmospheric." Henderson further stated that the record "isn't as consistent as it could have been, but more often than not, Kylesa's risk-taking pays off on this intriguing, if uneven, effort." Keith Bergman of

commented: "After a few tracks, Kylesa's zanily unpredictable mishmash of sound becomes… well… predictable. You'll get the idea after ten minutes — this sort of dirty, dreadlocked psychedelia blown out of the basement of an abandoned punk squat, hoarsely shouted, with riffs that sound apocalyptic in a blown-tube-amp kind of way." ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'' critic Jill Mikkelson wrote: "This record will appeal to fans of stoner rock but isn't anything special."

Track listing

Personnel

;Kylesa * Phillip Cope – guitar, sampling, vocals * Laura Pleasants – guitar, vocals * Corey Barhorst – bass, sampling, vocals * Brandon Baltzley – drums ;Production * Alex Newport – audio engineer, production * Louie Teran – mastering * Drew Speziale – cover art

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2005 albums Kylesa albums Prosthetic Records albums Albums produced by Alex Newport