Certain bands are bound to inspire adoration from some listeners and disdain from others; Khanate is such a band. Trying to get Khanate's critics and detractors to comprehend their harsh, caustic, dissonant brand of doom metal is like trying to sell someone who dislikes black metal in general on the merits of Gorgoroth; Khanate's music is, to be sure, an acquired taste. But Khanate's hardcore followers, on the other hand, absolutely adore them -- and those who fall into the hardcore-follower category will be delighted to know how uncompromising they remain on Clean Hands Go Foul. Listeners who enjoyed Things Viral and Capture & Release need not worry about Khanate turning into My Dying Bride, a melodic band with both doom metal and gothic metal appeal; Clean Hands Go Foul doesn't pretend to be melodic or musical. Instead, Khanate proudly stick to their guns and continue to be as abrasive, noisy and thoroughly pessimistic as ever. Of course, those melodic goth/doom bands that are so plentiful in Europe are also quite pessimistic, but they express their pessimism in a darkly romantic, darkly poetic way -- whereas Khanate express their pessimism with sensory assault and in-your-face brutality. Clean Hands Go Foul is the sound of agony and total despair, and there is as much torment on the six-minute "Wings from Spine" and the nine-minute "In That Corner" as there is on the 11-minute "Clean My Heart" and the 32-minute "Every God Damn Thing." This 2009 release clobbers the listener without mercy -- and while that hellbent-for-noise approach won't inspire any of Khanate's detractors to reevaluate their opinion of the band, loyal followers will find these doom metal agitators to be as exciting as ever. ~ Alex Henderson

Rovi