5 Best Metal Albums Of June 2018

Colorado’s melodic doom dealers Khemmis became the talk of the heavy metal town in late 2016, when the pummelling quartet unleashed their beloved sophomore album, Hunted. For a disc from a band heavily buried in the extreme music undergrowth, Hunted was met with a monumentally large and enthusiastic response, to the point where even Rolling Stone named it one of the best albums of that year!

Thus, there was naturally a huge amount of anticipation for Hunted’s follow-up, Desolation, to continue Khemmis’s ever-expanding brilliance. Like this list’s number five slot, ASG’s Survive Sunrise, Desolation is a mid-paced titan of mammoth riffing and enticing melodies. However, it dominates over its competitor with its twinkles of progressive brilliance, which are made manifest in the lengthy grandeur of “From Ruin” being contrasted by the surprisingly catchy energy of “Isolation”.

Tonally, Desolation is a much more impressive venture, feeling surprisingly timeless as a result. The album melds multiple eras of metal history to achieve its impactful sound: the blues-inclined crawl of the ‘70s, the sweeping harmonies of the ‘80s and the experimental compositions of the ‘90s, all delivered via the gorgeous clarity of contemporary production and mixing.

The record just sounds gorgeous with both its actual songs and the way in which they’re delivered to the ear, resulting in a wholly brilliant ride for metal fans new and old.