Kali Yuga- The Cosmology of Decay

Kali Yuga's name might evoke Hindu philosophy and Eastern exoticism, but the band's Louisiana home gives their sound a gritty heat and earthiness that's a far cry from the airy chants of Indian devotional music. There's a definite old school gothic influence on display on this album, with lots of weighty, gloomy guitars and throaty vocals. Title track "The Cosmology Of Decay," for example, is laden with bombast, but it's a memorable song nonetheless, as is the repetitive but appealing "Ada Marsh." The guitar line on "Submarine," though derivative of the first Sisters of Mercy album, is gorgeous nonetheless, and subtle keyboards and backing vocals make it one of the band's most polished offerings. Singer Riley Bordelon's voice is a little off in places, but it's got a real energy to it, and you can't say that about many of today's guitar goth bands. Throaty without being guttural, he's less like Andrew Eldritch than a young Ian Astbury back in the days of Southern Death Cult. It's a style that works especially well well on the more punk-inspired end of things. While the somewhat unfocused passion of his vocals seems at odds with the clean guitar melodies of "Aliza," Bordelon sounds right at home shouting the chorus of "Jackal Head." "Swampwizard" growls like Samhain in their heyday, and the Glenn Danzig influence becomes all the more overt with a cover of the Misfits classic "London Dungeon" that departs from the original only in the addition of more effects pedals to the power chords. Pure guitar goth is on the wane these days, now that electronics have become so ubiquitous, but groups like Kali Yuga are keeping the spirit of the Fields Of The Nephilim and the Mission alive. A stylish debut, this is well worth picking up whether you're true blue old school or just old school at heart.

Go to www.kaliyuga.net for song downloads and other information.