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Desolation is the third full-length from Denver, Colorado's Khemmis, a band that subscribes to the Candlemass/Solitude Aeturnus school of doom metal. The vocals are clear, with occasional rasps thrown in, and the singer's voice is strong though not on the level of Messiah or Robert Lowe in terms of gravitas. Musically, Khemmis must have a little more trad metal in their veins as they don't stick to slow tempos across Desolation. This gives their music a more dynamic feel, but it seems to have come at the expense of atmosphere, which is lacking. You feel like you are listening to the songs objectively rather than being drawn in. That doesn't mean they aren't good, especially "Isolation" which is the album's highlight, mixing both faster and slower tempos with compelling lyrics. If I sound like I don't like Desolation, let me say that I do, I'm just finding the emotional impact is not as visceral as it could be, and the album has a sterility that doesn't serve the style all that well. This is good doom but it's not quite great.