Khanate

Khanate emerged in 2000 as a New York City–based drone/doom metal supergroup whose lineup drew from Burning Witch, Thorr's Hammer, Sunn O)))), OLD, and Blind Idiot God. Its signature sound combined dissonant, heavily downtuned guitar and bass figures with plodding tempos, dense layers of high-pitched feedback, and agonized shrieks, resulting in an intensely unsettling and demanding auditory encounter. The group produced several bleak, misanthropic albums, among them the brooding two-song 2005 release Capture & Release, before disbanding in 2006; the members reconvened in 2017 and issued the abrasive, discordant To Be Cruel eight years later.

Pronounced “khan-eight,” the quartet coalesced with guitarist Stephen O’Malley (Burning Witch, Thorr’s Hammer, Sunn O)))), bassist James Plotkin (OLD, Phantomsmasher), drummer Tim Wyskida (Blind Idiot God), and vocalist Alan Dubin (OLD). Their debut, the misanthropic self-titled album, appeared on Southern Lord Records in October 2001, followed by the twisted and ominous Things Viral in 2003. For their third effort the band shifted to the extreme-metal label Hydra Head, delivering the two-song opus Capture & Release in 2005. After dissolving shortly thereafter, they resurfaced in 2009 with Clean Hands Go Foul, a characteristically caustic and uncompromising collection tracked in 2005 prior to the original split. A brief reunion occurred that same year, yet a more sustained return began in 2017, culminating in the 2023 album To Be Cruel—a sprawling three-track, 67-minute work saturated with discord, tension, and dark ambient passages.