To Be Cruel

17 years passed between doom metal supergroup Khanates 2006 breakup and the release of their fifth album To Be Cruel. All the time in between did nothing to dull the groups specifically caustic breed of sludgy, droning intensity, as the three elongated pieces on To Be Cruel fit perfectly with any other phase of Khanates tortured writhing. Opening track "Like a Poisoned Dog" spends four or five minutes hissing and seething before locking into its structure, with vocalist Alan Dubins screams signaling the beginning of the songs lurchingly slow ascent. Its dissonant, ugly, and unrelenting for its entire duration, taking even longer to sputter out and die as it comes down. Khanates dynamism is what keeps their sound interesting, especially as each of To Be Cruels three monolithic pieces clock in at close to 20 minutes. "It Wants to Fly" oscillates between passages of formless ambience and downtuned destruction, insisting that listeners become lost and disoriented in its waves of pain and misanthropy. The whispering violence of the title track drives home the volatile power of Khanates grim return after being away so long. Its commonplace for doom metal bands to fixate on all things horrible and unholy, but few match the dire seriousness Khanate conjures. To Be Cruel is another chapter of the bands protracted anti-celebrations of pain, and its one of their best. ~ Fred Thomas