Khanate Release New Album To Be Cruel
I’m not sure there was ever a band who could make silence so agonizing. An unexpected return from Khanate, whose legacy among the most caustic of drone-doom acts does little to capture the misanthropic, curdled-blood poetry of their actual sound, brings three new tracks and an hour of distraught hermit gruel in the form of To Be Cruel, on Sacred Bones Records.
The songs sound like Khanate, which is both a general warning to humanity and the highest compliment I can think of to give them. Funny how it’s been since 2009 and their original configuration is only more a supergroup, with drummer Tim Wyskida having served in Blind Idiot God, in addition to vocalist Alan Dubin having formed Gnaw since Khanate’s dissolution after 2009’s Clean Hands Go Foul, guitarist Stephen O’Malley in Sunn O))), bassist James Plotkin mastering everybody’s everything, and so on. But as you take it on — and good luck with that — you should know this is not some haphazard assemblage or ‘comeback’ event, it’s Khanate, with all the scathe and skin-peeling that designation implies.
Streaming in full now and available on CD from Sacred Bones. Vinyl to follow. Here’s Bandcamp info and player, plus the announcement from the label:
KHANATE – To Be Cruel
Preorder: https://www.sacredbonesrecords.com/products/sbr321-to-be-cruel-khanate
We have been biting our tongue for months in anticipation of today’s mammoth announce: Khanate, the experimental doom outfit featuring members of Sunn O))), OLD, and Blind Idiot God, have returned after a self-imposed, fourteen year hiatus. The band surprise released their fifth album, To Be Cruel, overnight, with the 3-track, 60 minute album available to stream now! You can also pre-order the album on various physical formats including the Sacred Bones mail-order exclusive metallic bronze vinyl, while supplies last. The album comes out physically on June 30th, pre-order here!
The highly influential KHANATE (Alan Dubin, Stephen O’Malley, James Plotkin & Tim Wyskida) dimmed the lights fifteen years ago. Now it turns out those muted years were but a foreboding prelude to an abrupt awakening – the era of TO BE CRUEL. Three songs newly shining light on distinct, destitute, clinging terrors. Khanate’s slow dimensions have been amplified horrifically. Personal grievances have become generational vendettas.
Music composed & produced by Khanate
Lyrics by Alan Dubin
Tracklisting:
1. Like a Poisoned Dog 19:20
2. It Wants to Fly 21:43
3. To Be Cruel 20:09
Guitar & drums recorded at Orgone Studios, Woburn, UK by Jaime Gomez Arellano assisted by Christian Jameson.
Bass, vocals & percussion recorded at Thousand Caves Studio, Queens, NY by Colin Marston.
Synthesis recorded at Plotkinworks by James Plotkin.
Mixed at Circular Ruin Studio, Brooklyn, NY by Randall Dunn, James Plotkin & Stephen O’Malley.
Mastered at West Side Music, Cornwall on Hudson, NY by Alan Douches & James Plotkin.
Art direction by Stephen O’Malley
Painted film stills by Karl Lemieux
Portrait photography by Ebru Yildiz
Khanate:
Alan Dubin (Vocals)
Stephen O’Malley (Guitar, feedback)
James Plotkin (Bass guitar, synthesis)
Tim Wyskida (Drums, percussion)
