Kylesa (USA) Returning to Aotearoa New Zealand This Summer

Last here during the hazy distant era of the mid-'00s, Kylesa will finally be back in Aotearoa New Zealand this coming summer. Helmed by co-founders Laura Pleasants and Phillip Cope, with high pedigree recent recruits Roy Mayorga (Nausea, Soulfly, Stone Sour, Ministry, Jerry Cantrell) and John John Jesse (Nausea), Kylesa reemerged from nearly a decade of dormancy to play at Dutch heavy music mecca Roadburn Festival last year, and they'll soon be rattling the foundations of our own local riff-temples Valhalla in Te Whanganui-a-Tara and Double Whammy in Tāmaki Makaurau, as part of a wider Australasian tour.

Formed at the dawn of their millennium in Savannah, Georgia to blaze their own innovative trail in mega heavy psych / sludge metal across seven studio records thus far, including their just reissued 2006 classic Time Will Fuse Its Worth, do not miss Kylesa's monumental return in February 2027 — brought to you by Valhalla Touring...

Kylesa

Tuesday 9th February - Valhalla, Wellington
Wednesday 10th February - Double Whammy, Auckland

Tickets on sale HERE via UTR

Experience 'Unspoken' from Kylesa's 2013 album Ultraviolet...

Hit play on 'Lost and Confused' from Kylesa's 2015 album Exhausting Fire...

Press release:

KYLESA have announced their return to Australia and New Zealand. After more than a decade away, the legendary American group brings their iconic blend of stoner rock, psych, sludge, metal and punk to venues across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Auckland & Wellington.

Kylesa is a force of nature, a band whose sonic range and primal heaviness stunned & awed listeners for 15 years before they went dark in 2016. Formed in Savannah, Georgia in 2001, the group made their name with a series of EPs and records and relentless touring schedule. They gained a legion of fans from all over the world and dipped their toes into several different scenes as “Stoner Metal” or “Psych Metal / Indie Sludge” wasn’t necessarily on the menu. Pulling from indie rock, punk, classic heavy metal, doom, death, psychedelic and kraut rock, the band really sound like no one else.

Journalist David Peisner of Spin described them as dark psych-metal titans, practicing an aggressive, but hazy, stoner vibe...a strange amalgamation of Black Sabbath, Black Flag and early Pink Floyd.

Lead by guitar and vocal duo Laura Pleasants and Phillip Cope, Kylesa have picked up where they left off with a legendary new rhythm section in tow featuring Roy Mayorga ( Nausea, Soulfly, Stone Sour, Ministry, Jerry Cantrell ) & John John Jesse ( Nausea) rounding out the lineup.

Kylesa cemented their place as key figures in creating the Georgia metal scene by bringing forth a unique, unmatched, experimental wall of sound that is as relevant today as it was at the time.

They returned to perform at the 2025 Roadburn Festival, followed by announcements from ArcTanGent Festival, Inferno Fest and A Colossal Weekend. Since then they have made selective appearances at festivals and theatres across the globe and will finally descend on Australian and New Zealand shores in February 2027.