Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Khanate - Things Viral [Southern Lord - 2003]

The tektonic doom-unit Khanate drops their second album and you can only stand in awe of the immense power that this quartet generates. As slow and destructive as drifting ice the album completely crushes everything on its way.

The quartet comes up with a version of doom that's extreme and unique. Where Steve O'Malley's other band Sunn 0))) has some cathartic and even soothing ambient quality, Khanate chokes the listener with grim emptiness. On Things Viral the sound is more open, with more room for Alan Dubin's vocal insanity and James Plotkin's sound processing. It seems (semi)-acoustic ambient project Lotus Eaters (which features Plotkin and O'Malley) left its marks on Khanate's sound. O'Malley told m[m] co-worker François that Alan Dubin actually scared the shit out of him with his performance and that doesn't surprise me at all. Dubin sounds possessed and desperate. He whispers and he screams his superb lyrics like mantra's or incantations. Plotkin distorts his vocals digitally which only makes them more terrifying. The slow tempo and the 'soundcontrol' makes every interference, every feedback, every detail part of the music. It's like a crossover of incredibly slow, almost abstract doom with glitch and microsound.

"Is there hope?" asks Dubin in Fields, the second track. If there ever was, it surely must be gone now. In about an hour Khanate drags you through a barren and desolate musical landscape, to leave you exhausted and at the end of your rope (or searching for one). No stoner grooves, no melancholic melodies. Just dark emptiness and desperation...

Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5Rating: 5 out of 5

Latest Reviews

Khanate - Things Viral
The tektonic doom-unit Khanate drops their second album and you can only stand in awe of the immense power that this quartet generates. As slow and destructi...
230126   Lee "Scratch" Perry - Black...
230126   Ivar Grydeland - Bøyning, B...
230126   Christian Wallumrød - Perco...
230126   Androctonyx - Respawning As...
220126   Private Blue - Private Blue ...
220126   Harley Flanagan: Wired For Ch...
220126   Inhabitants - Inhabitants(VOD)
220126   Fantomas Returns! - Fantomas...
210126   Pita - Get Out
210126   The Knife - The Knife (VOD)
Latest Articles

Creepy Images Books - Killer Art
Of all the cult/exploitation genres, Giallo stands as one of the more visually & art-based- be it with the grand/ dramatic location, choreographed murder...
231225   Creepy Images Books - Killer Art
221225   Best Of 2025 - Music, Sound &...
041225   The Spectral Sounds of The Pr...
281025   Michael Hurst Interview - Unb...
071025   Xiphos - The Rise And Fall Of...
030925   Third Window Films - A Label ...
130825   HNW fest- Barcelona- 12th Apr...
250725   Raté interview - Walled-in F...
180625   Matthew Holmes - Of razor-sha...
280525   The Residents - Visits From T...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2025. Twenty four years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom