Kalgon, not to be confused with Calgon a UK water softener used in dishwashers, hail from Ashville, North Carolina and are a three piece consisting of Brandon Davis on guitar and vocals, Berten Lee Tanner on bass and vocals and Marc Russo on drums. The band jam a groove rooted in heavy psych and stoner doom liberally sprinkled with elements of post-rock, thrash and the blues that are then decorated in a mix of throaty bellowed vocals and clean harmonies. This month (May 2024) sees the band releasing their self-titled debut "Kalgon" (Evil Noise Recordings) a truly impressive collection of songs tied together around a concept that tells a tale of an ancient mind colonizing fungi reaping ruin on the human populace.
Opening song "The Isolate" kicks things off in true stoner doom style with low, slow guitar refrains, grumbling bass motifs and solid thunderous drumming supporting a wearied clean vocal telling us of "opportunistic space fungi, awaiting the moment to bloom", over a musical dynamic pitched at the lumbering and menacing end of the doom spectrum. Things get even slower, lower and heavier on next song "Grade of the Slope", we described aspects of the previous track as lumbering this one in comparison is dragging itself along by its fingernails with achingly sedate and heavy riffs and rhythms framing a mix of growled and clean vocals that are delivered slightly slurred and just short of monotonic. Kalgon shrug off their cloaks of lethargy and languidity and go full tilt in your face stoner metal/thrash for "Apocalyptic Meiosis" only to then go and get all reflective on us with two stunning instrumentals, first the languid and droning "Interlude" and then the slow burning and doomic "Windigo", the former soothing and quite beautiful, the latter dark dank and atmospheric. "Eye of the Needle" follows and sees those big vocals return over a groove that boasts spiralling guitar refrains anchored to earth by ground zero bass lines and busy tight drumming. Final number "Setting Sun" sees Kalgon closing out with a heartfelt lament, the songs vocals delivered clean and melancholic over a backdrop of restrained but heavy percussion and a mix of shimmering and fractured chord voicings, the song finally fading out to the sound of gently picked acoustic guitar.
Let's not delve too deeply into the concept linking the seven tracks on Kalgon's debut, except to mention that we at Desert Psychlist are fully invested in the album's "The Last Of Us" inspired lyricism and imagery. What truly captivates the listener about "Kalgon" is its diversity and its musicianship. This isn't just an album where a band stacks riffs endlessly one top of one another; albeit it does contains tracks that are both forceful and uncompromising, this is an album that emotionally engages the listener, it is this combined with its storytelling elements that elevates "Kalgon" from just being a good debut to being a truly outstanding debut.
Check it out ....
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