Six albums into their career, SUMAC stretch the limits of what Metal can be with The Healer (Thrill Jockey Records) — a four-song, 76-minute double album of fluid, evolving, at times seemingly freeform Jazz Metal that requires some patience, but impresses with its expressiveness and creativity. Continue reading
On Raw Blood Singing (Debemur Morti Productions), Insect Ark returns with an otherworldly and compelling sci-fi landscape of noir, subtle menace and mystery. Continue reading
Having reemerged from its dank void of horror to release To Be Cruel in 2023, deconstructed-avant-doom entity Khanate continues to be pulled piece-by-piece from the mud, as the band’s third and fourth records — 2005’s Capture & Release and 2009’s Clean Hands Go Foul (Sacred Bones Records) — get shined and buffed for physical reissues. Continue reading
After recently releasing their first album in some time (To Be Cruel – Sacred Bones Records), Khanate will now play their first live outing in nearly two decades, at Roadburn Festival 2024. Additionally, their first two albums, Khanate and Things Viral will both receive vinyl re-issues. Find out more below.
Seemingly coming out of the blue — like the sudden emergence of a horrible memory buried for years — drone doom supergroup Khanate returns with To Be Cruel (released digitally on May 19th and on physical formats on June 30th via Sacred Bones Records) the group’s first album since 2009’s Clean Hands Go Foul. Shrouded in secrecy prior to its release, To Be Cruel delivers three tracks and 62 mins of harsh, cold, sparse, experimental sounds fit to ruin any good day.
The word “experimental” is a double-edged sword. For some it classifies anything veering from the typical form people are used to. Thus it renders whatever it is; be it medicine or art, undigestable to safer minds. To others the word conjures a magical playground where truly anything is possible. When foisted upon artists, such as guitarist/vocalist Ron Varod (Kayo Dot) and his solo outlet Zvi, we get the latter. Arriving in 2014 Zvi I challenged the listener to feel a piece of music on Varod’s terms. His new release II: Death Stops Us All (Halfpear Records) is no less of an emotional tug of war for the senses.
Composed of just three pieces, Zvi:II differs from its sister release in some ways.’You’ve Charmed Me, I Will Stay’ begins with a swelling guitar repeated like waves with other instrumentation flowing in. The layers of harmony vocals in the background suck in your attention. While the plucked guitars parts are calming, there is a unease that sets the table for what is to come.
‘Black Leaves’ (featuring Alan Dubin of Khanate and Gnaw on vocals) begins with more unsettling bassy notes. They soon stop and the song takes shape with Varod crooning forlornly at first. Moody strangeness pervades the track with, but never confusing you. Finally, a familiar harrowing shriek from Dubin fades in and out from the mix over and over. Jarring stabbing chords, detuning strings along with underlying keyboards flood in, giving a feeling of sonic vertigo. Ending with a mantra type singing wail, some malicious whispering, and other oddities from beyond, we glide into the final track.
We again meet Varod and his voice to some off-kilter balladry and guitar, with a motif close to the first track. What ‘Whale Bone Cage’ does is beckon you to come down from the anguish and recover. A final strum of an open chord seems to breathe out a phrase….. rest.
A release like this can only come from vision of a person without bounds as a writer. Matching Varod’s work are the talents of engineer Colin Marston (Gorguts/Kralice) and James Plotkin (Khanate) to engineer. The only shame of these releases is they are too brief, and leave you lusting for more.
8.0/10
Blind Idiot God has confirmed an upcoming European tour in April 2016. Dates are posted below. The band features Andy Hawkins on guitar; Tim Wyskida (Khanate, Jodis, Plotkin & Wyskida) on drums; Will Dahl on bass (though founding member Gabe Katz plays bass on the album).
Apr 13: Vera – Groningen (NL)
Apr 14: Magasin 4 – Brussels (BE)
Apr 18: Sonic Ballroom – Cologne (DE)
Apr 19: Bad Bonn – Duedingen (SI)
Apr 20: Serraglio – Milan (IT)
Apr 21: Freakout Club – Bologna (IT)
Apr 24: Cassiopeia – Berlin (DE)
Apr 27: Blast – Trondheim (NO)
Apr 28: Pokalen – Oslo (NO)
Apr 29: Hulen – Bergen (NO)
Apr 30: Folken – Stavanger (NO)
Hex Inverter is streaming “The Mission Statement” off of their self titled debut here. The album was recorded by the band’s own Mick Mullin (Intronaut, Woe) and mastered by James Plotkin (Khanate, Palms). The record’s stunning layout and design was created by artist Brian Azer (Sun Kil Moon, Jesu). The band has upcoming tour dates with Kayo Dot and Giant Squid.
Track listing:
01: Led to This Place
02: Even for No One
03: The Mission Statement
04: Bruise
05: Into the Hills
06: Beneath the Weeds
07: Lamb
08: Something It’s Not
HEX INVERTER tour dates:
May 20: BAR New Haven – New Haven, CT (w/ Kayo Dot)
May 21: The Paper Box – Brooklyn, NY (w/ Kayo Dot)
Jun 24: TBA – New Haven, CT
Jun 25: Lucky 13 Saloon – Brooklyn, NY (June 24-27 w/ Giant Squid)
Jun 26: Kung Fu Necktie – Philadelphia, PA (June 24-27 w/ Giant Squid)
Jun 27: Machines with Magnets – Pawtucket, RI
South London bass and drum duo Ghold are streaming their new album Of Ruin, out now via Ritual Productions in its entirety here. The album was recorded at lss Studio with Dan Miller and mastered by James Plotkin (Khanate, OLD). The band have an upcoming appearance at Temples Festival, along with an upcoming North American tour supporting Arabrot.
May 31: Temples Festival – Bristol (UK)
North American Summer Tour w/ ÅRABROT:
Jun 24: O’Brien’s Pub – Boston, MA
Jun 26: The Depot – York, PA
Jun 27: Now That’s Class – Cleveland, OH
Jun 29: The Burlington – Chicago, IL
Jun 30: Fubar – St Louis, MO
Jul 01: Jackpot Saloon – Lawrence, KS
Jul 02: Hi Dive – Denver, CO
Jul 03: Kilby Court – Salt Lake, City, UT
Jul 05: The Highline – Seattle, WA
Jul 06: The Hindenburg – Vancouver, BC
Jul 07: Rotture – Portland, OR
Jul 08: Starlight Lounge – Sacramento, CA (w/ Dispirit, Lycus)
Jul 09: SF Eagle – San Francisco, CA
Jul 12: Lowbrow Palace – El Paso, TX
Jul 14: Holy Mountain – Austin, TX (w/ Pinkish Black)
Jul 15: Siberia – New Orleans, LA (w/ Pinkish Black)
Jul 16: The 529 – Atlanta, GA (w/ Pinkish Black)
Jul 17: Local 506 – Chapel Hill, NC (w/ Pinkish Black)
Jul 18: Strange Matter – Richmond, VA (w/ Pinkish Black)
Jul 19: The Studio, Webster Hall – New York, NY (w/ Pinkish Black)
Ghold on Facebook
Ghold on Twitter
Ghold on Bandcamp
Ghold on Soundcloud
Ritual Productions on Facebook
Ritual Productions on Bandcamp
Abstract is the new brutal. The principal focus of Extreme Metal has always been to make music that sounds as violent or destructive as possible, but over the last couple of years a growing number of bands in different sub-genres have embraced a more subtle approach. Whether it’s Gnaw Their Tongues and their followers blending Black Metal with Noise elements, Blut Aus Nord embracing dissonance or Portal deconstructing familiar Death Metal into something totally other, it’s becoming more common to encounter Extreme Metal which doesn’t so much punch your face as make you doubt its existence.
Primitive Man are one of a current circle of bands – Sea Bastard, Keeper and Indian among their peers – engaged in stripping so-called “Sludge”, that ugly child of Punk and Black Sabbath, of its Blues influences and sense of groove and focussing entirely on its capacity for bleakness and discomfort, and are arguably the leaders in their circle when it comes to abstraction. Home Is Where The Hatred Is (Relapse) continues from their independent debut album Scorn with thirty minutes of abstract rhythms, broken chords and growled vocals that steadfastly refuse to describe anything as uplifting or recognisable as a riff. It’s a thick, genuinely unsettling morass of noise and almost ambient amp abuse, and when they do allow themselves a brief moment of Grind-fuelled violence at the start of Downfall it’s almost a relief – though one that’s rapidly overtaken as the song collapses once again into dissonance and atmospherics. There are similarities to Khanate, of course, in their use of dissonance and unorthodox song structures, but as their name would suggest they seem less artful and refined, more… well… primitive.
It is extremely difficult to criticise HIWTHI, not because it’s without flaws, but because any apparent weaknesses (tracks blurring into another; the lack of satisfying climax; the sense of dislocation and frustration that pervades) are so obviously the result of very deliberate choices by the band. They’re not bugs, to borrow from the clichés of IT, but features. This isn’t the dirty, angry Rock ‘n Roll of Eyehategod or Iron Monkey, and it doesn’t seek to press the same buttons – this is genuinely ugly, unsatisfying, dissonant music from a band who aren’t interested in catharsis or making you rock out.
8.0/10
RICHIE HR