Khanate - Capture & Release (2005)

1. Capture 18:15

2. Release 25:03

Maybe their second best after Things Viral. But sometimes I think it's better. Khanate played drone doom metal that focused more on atmospherics than layers (like Sunn). Part of the atmosphere was THE SLOWEST DRUM BEATS ever, part of it was constantly rumbling bass, and the rest was sometimes gross, sometimes beautiful guitars.THE REST of their sound was lyrical and vocal theatrics. At their worst, Khanate played Sabbath gone discordant. Interesting in small doses, but fucking boring when you realized it was still the first track playing. At their most consistent, they played minimalist metal where despite the overall downer vibes, they were engaging. At their BEST, they filled the silences of their minimalist metal with BEAUTIFUL guitars recalling Keiji Haino and Greg Ginn. Their best SOUNDS were on their THIRD best album, because THINGS just weren't as CONSISTENT as on their MID-PERIOD records. Capture & Release is one of those consistent minimalist metal records. It doesn't excite me like moments on Clean Hands Go Foul, but it's better overall. Dubin's theatrics don't scare me like Things Viral or chill me like Clean Hands. But it's never boring. Sure, it's only two tracks long, but that's still three quarters of an hour where they could bore the listener, especially when they're still relying so heavily on long silences. The band somehow keep it together, always interesting, even when it's nothing but clicking for 3 minutes at the start of Release. Do I buy Dubin's vocal theatrics? For some reason, yeah! I do!

I've got a bone to pick
Maybe it's yours

sounds like the intro to a sweet punk song! Cryptically a murder narrative, I like to think the best of our zany frontman and think there's something real to him, and not just (gotta think of another word for) theatrics. Anxiety over his future

Someone said
If you worked hard enough
Ran fast enough
Learned enough
You would amount to something

Impotence

It's cold when birds fall from the sky
It's cold when I'm near you
...
Trying is not enough

Although it all comes back to his SCARY narrative

Trying is not enough
And there I am above you
I won't let go
It's cold when you are down
It's cold when I touch you
And there I am above you
Opened and spoiled
You were blood nothing more

There's more there. If it was all horror antics or worse, wish fulfillment a la Ghostface's Wildflower, then I'm sure it wouldn't all feel so fucking sad. Well done, assholes, instead of scaring us you've made us feel bad. But at least it's not some tedious metal dude misanthropy, right? And at least it's engaging, right?

Bros?

A

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