Jamie is hard to pin down stylistically as he seems to flit from genre to genre. His previous album was the country hybrid Welcome Home, which was pretty decent, but to me it was just generic paint-by-numbers modern country (then again, I ain't much of a country fan). Which means it was as good as anything else out there, and if that was your cup of tea, your cup runneth over. That shouldn't read as a shot; I just think he's an artist chasing his muse, and music is merely the vehicle used to express his ideas, and he has a lot of them.
One of the millstones he has to carry is the baggage of being associated with the Contemporary Christian Music machine and all of the expectations and armchair judgments that come with it. The other one is Guardian. Don't get me wrong, they were the shit, and while I was a little late to the party (mainly because I stopped caring about CCM, but I still had my favourite artists in the genre), I did get into the band right when they were trying to stay current ... and I thought they were really good.
However, to a lot of the band's fans, it seems the only era worth celebrating was the albums produced by John & Dino Elefante (and I loved the stuff they produced for the most part). The implication being that everything after that somehow missed the mark. Sorry Steve Taylor, you ruined the band.
So what's a guy to do? Take your name off the banner and invent a new identity. To that end, Jamie seems to be all in on Kalamity Kills. This is his band. I'll be honest here and say that it's not exactly my jam. Musically, Kalamity Kills seems to be anchored more in Nu Metal from the early 2000s, mixed with a little industrial and progressive elements, but then again, what I know about genres is pretty suspect. Let's just call it a modern rock record. There are a lot of killer guitars, big drums, and Jamie's voice. Mr. Rowe is one hell of a singer.
SKIP THIS IF YOU'RE GETTING BORED
By my own admission, this was a CD I played a few times and then filed. I honestly didn't spend too much time with it, which is odd considering how much I paid for it. There was something about it, though, and when I saw that Girder Music was pressing a limited run of records, I signed up. That kind of surprised me, but I like Jamie's music, and despite my obvious ambivalence, I appreciated Kalamity Kills.
This is where things go a little south financially for me, as the exchange rate for the Canadian dollar and shipping made this a three-digit purchase - one my wife has no idea I made. To save a little, I opted out of the insurance, as it was just an extra expense I couldn't really afford. Besides, I could count on zero fingers the times I've had issues with shipping. Well, now I can count on one finger how many times I've had issues. The album arrived with a crushed corner, and after a back-and-forth with Girder, who tried to find a solution and meet me partway, I just couldn't spend more money on this one. Besides, there were only a few hundred of these pressed, so it's not like they had them just laying around. I'd rather someone else get a chance to have a copy.
If insurance is offered, you may as well get it. You never know.
At this point, you're probably wondering, "What kind of post is this?"
Fair.
OKAY YOU CAN START READING AGAIN BUT IT MAY STILL BE BORING
Let's do a track by track jibber jabber and drag this out.
Side A
"Anthem" starts with a short ragtime piano prelude and then launches into a blistering sonic fury with Jamie absolutely screaming his head off. At times it borders on guttural, and it's 100% intensity. It's the song that introduces multi-instrumentalist and producer Jamey Perrenot, and boy howdy, this dude is a freakin' monster. He's the glue that holds everything together on the album. Chief cook and bottle washer, and he seems to be the perfect foil for Jamie's vision.
"Dearest Enemy (Pressure)" is another decent rock song. For Guardian fans, Tony Palacios provides a pretty tasty solo.
"What's on Your Mind (Pure Energy)" is a really good song and features Kiarely Castillo of Conquer Divide (never heard of them, but there's still time to fix that) on vocals. Sounds like Jamey was having fun with his DigiTech Whammy on the solo.
"Dark Secrets" is a nice bookend to the previous track, as it's still hard rock, but it's more atmospheric, and it's another really good track.
"A.L.I.E.N." closes out the first side, and Kalamity Kills has settled into a pretty comfortable groove at this point. On "A.L.I.E.N.," the groove is leaning into the funk. There were times I was reminded of My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult's "After the Flesh" from The Crow soundtrack from the '90s.
Side B (I always prefer it when a record is labelled Side 2 as B sides are a thing, and these are not B sides)
"Hellfire Honey" opens side two, and it's got a little more going on under the hood lyrically than you'd expect. It's also a really good rocker, and the guitar solo by Ace Von Johnson (Faster Pussycat, again a band I've heard of more than I've actually heard) is pure fret wizardry.
"Burn" I really like this one. A lot. Dang, the song even manages to evoke a Led Zeppelin vibe, which I found really cool and unexpected.
"Sinners Welcome" this song rocks. A little bit of a poke in the eye to some. It's a little hard not to feel a little schadenfreude, but I am also conscious of the rather large plank sticking out of my own eye, so I'll just take the song as a cautionary tale not to become too enamoured with one's (my) own sense of piousness.
"I Still Believe" is a great cover of The Call's song from their 1986 album Reconciled. The Call don't get a lot of love, and seem to be primarily known for their minor hit "Let the Day Begin," but Michael Been was a great songwriter, and Jamie makes the song his own.
"Amen" closes out the album and is a simple prayer of thanks. A lone piano with atmospheric keyboard textures gives the song a haunting and ethereal quality and is a fitting finale to the album. The only bit I didn't care for was how the song ended with the ascending notes ... it just seemed out of place. However, it's a pretty small complaint, bordering on petty.
Kalamity Kills was really a lot of fun, and while the songs sort of blurred together, they were all really good. Admittedly, this really isn't in my wheelhouse, as this isn't the kind of music I seek out. However, this is really good.
The album was produced by Mister (denotes respect) Jamey Perrenot, and was mixed by JR McNeely, a guy who has been around a while. He's worked with guys like Rick Altizer, Guardian, John Elefante, Petra, Aaron Sprinkle ... it's a long list. The guy has a good set of ears, and on Kalamity Kills everything seems to be right where it needs to be.
In the end, I don't know if this was worth me shelling out close to a hundred bucks, but I don't regret it. Besides, for the average person now, it's all about the clicks, so do the band a favour and stream this on repeat for a day or two.
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