Khanate - Khanate (2001)^{Release ID: 6970}

Stephen O'Malley is a name that is written large over the history of drone metal. Making a name for himself with legendary extreme doom outfit, Burning Witch and short-lived death doom project Thorr's Hammer, he also formed Sunn O))) alongside long-time collaborator Greg Anderson. Khanate was formed in 2000 after O'Malley met avant-garde musician and member of O.L.D. James Plotkin at an Isis gig. Plotkin recruited O.L.D. bandmate Alan Dubin to perform vocals for the new project with the four-piece being completed by drummer Tim Wyskida.

Well, when you dive down this rabbit hole, you'd better not be expecting Wonderland because here be monsters. From the off Khanate set out their stall to be a genuinely disturbing listen, taking the blueprint of Burning Witch's psychotic doom metal and stretching it further with increased repetition, glacially slow tempos, seismic rumblings and squeals of feedback that act as the backdrop to the outpourings of Durbin's troubled and troubling vocal protagonist whose screeching screams worm their way into your brain and sit there eating away at your sanity. Instrumentally quiet and gentle sections where his vocals are mere creepy-sounding whispers, are akin to the murmured secret exhortations to violence I imagine schizophrenic killers hear from the imaginary voices in their heads. A couple of lines from "No Joy", for example, read "No joy precious joy no joy, Eat that smile right off a face, your face, No joy only only eat stuff that grin down, down your neck no more eat no more, Breathe breathe don’t breathe please don’t breathe". I mean, what the fuck? This truly is a trip to the dark side of the human psyche and a disconcerting listen that leaves you with the impression that you have been witness to the outpourings of a genuinely troubled mind, like the innumerable notebooks that Mills and Somerset find in the room of the psycho in Se7en. Sure, Khanate aren't the only band that deal in disturbing lyrical imagery, but here there is no release with a catchy riff or a shredding guitar solo, all there is is the grindingly slow, dissonant throb of bleak inevitability unrelieved by any kind of positivity or hope.

I hate real world violence and horror, but there is a deeply primal and subliminal part of the human mind that is attracted to darkness in art, hence the enduring popularity of horror movies and true crime series. Obviously, drone metal is very much a niche sub-genre in the wider metal world, certainly when it is as disquieting as Khanate, so it obviously isn't for everyone, especially the impatient listener, but if you have a penchant for the darker and more uncomfortable reaches of extreme metal then Khanate are absolutely a required listen.

A miserable, wretched experience – and that’s exactly what they were going for here. A fully realized Drone Metal album, Khanate use the genre to create some truly hideous soundscapes, wrought with dissonance, noise, fuzz and lethargy. The plodding drums create just enough of a foundation to contain the chaos, with guitars and whatever else being used liberally and dissonantly to create harsh noise. The vocals are another aspect adding to the hostility, being a horrid, raspy yell that delivers ridiculously creepy and abstract lyricism and about saws, skin and bones.

For the right person, I think this could be exactly what they’re looking for. I can understand the appeal, as someone who greatly enjoys the deepest despair brought by the sound of genres like Doom Metal. I will say the album is unique for its time as well; despite Drone Metal being around for some time by the turn of the century, very few bands were actually exploring or developing its sound, especially not as entire identities, which Khanate opt to do.

Unfortunately though, the sound here is entirely unenjoyable for me. It’s too dissonant and noisy, and the worst part is that there’s absolutely no counterplay or depth at all. Every minute is the same as the last, with one song being entirely indiscernible from another. The vocals, while having a certain “scary” intrigue at first, quickly become tiring. The lyrics are similarly boring due to being too abstract and repetitive, almost painting a horrifying picture but instead falling short and looking more like ai generated ramblings. I am thankful it has drums (Drone Metal without drums… really isn’t Metal to me!) but those drums do absolutely nothing. Which would be fine if the atmosphere was better, but it’s way too noise and texture oriented rather than mood oriented, which I strongly dislike.

Not for me.