Review by Maverick on February 3, 2024.

"Thy metallic appetite shall be blessed by the mallet of the ever-abiding fires of Khemmis. Thou who stands in the metallic snobbery of thy Elitist Heresies, repent!" Well, that is how I feel when I see albums like this. This album has some interesting reception in the metal scene, and for one, I cannot understand for the life of me why this release is accused of having inconsistency between the vocals and its metallic blow of string and percussion. Khemmis's "Absolution" is a true gem, wait, let me rephrase that, it may be "the" Gem of the American doom metal community. Why? Let me lay this out:

First, the album cover is elegant and it has a vintage yet unconventional metallic appeal (tautological much?). Think about it, this is somewhere between a Japanese anime meets Asterix And Obelix throw-down, crafted by some perculiar ascetic in East. That's right, it has a eery and curious album cover but not in the same way I think we expect. Looks like Uncle Gandalf's appeal glares into the inner-Saruman of every metalhead. Well, you get what I mean.

Second, the strings are what one would expect from doom metal, albeit it comes with a sort of ambience. The overwhelming majority of doom metal projects rely on a fast-chug too easily, with the influence of quasi-death-doom appellations too often. Here you have the chug of the guitar crafted quite nicely, this is not to say that the guitars are not fast, but they pick speed as soon it captures one into the slow chug. Consider "Torn Asunder," when the combination of speed and slowish timing comes together. The combination of bass and guitar strings sets forth a metallic medley of pure musical excellence.

Third, most doom metal bands when they do give us something commendable like Black Sabbath's "Technical Ecstasy" and Candlemass's " Ancient Dreams", these bands however struggle to present us something which is purely doom metal (in both aesthetic and style), they are often court moving between melodic/heavy metal and doom metal, and it is hardly consistent. It is understandable, but somewhat inconsistent when one usually wants purely doom metal. Khemmis vouches for exact that, it's drumming is slow and cocky, with impeccable timing and just bleeds doom. "Ash, Cinder, Smoke" demonstrates this quite well.

Fourth, the vocals present doom metal properly, as one should find in modern doom metal, think about it, we expect the post-death grunts which one finds it. Yet it is not "death metal," as many doom metal bands do, it is consistent to the flavor.

Ultimately, this is a band which makes doom metal, a faithful doom metal album. Inject yourself with this majestic album, let the rain of blood anoint you as the warriors of the legion of Khemmis take you deeper into an epic world, where doom is in the very air you breath, a forthcoming aroma of poisonous fumes do we expect the band to be! The guile be with you!

Rating: 8.9 out of 10