Khanate - Clean Hands Go Foul (2009)

Khanate
Clean Hands Go Foul (2009)

Khanate's sudden disbandment in 2006 was a blow to the drone doom metal world; a world not particularly large in the first place, but also one not particularly diverse. This is precisely why Khanate stood out so easily. With metal veterans like James Plotkin and Stephen O'Malley (of SunnO))) fame; a household name to some) working with a vocalist of Alan Dubin's caliber, they were bound to reach heights not easily accessible to their peers. Sadly, we only got three proper albums from this venerable supergroup of sorts before...actually, wait...make that four.

Information on Clean Hands Go Foul -- whether it is an official release or a collection of b-sides, outtakes, etc. -- is hard to come by. The most definitive definition seems to call it the "long lost" Khanate album, possibly not originally meant to see the light of day. If that's the case, it makes their break-up all the more infuriating, as even their throwaway material trumps most of what you'll ever hear from drone doom. "Wings From Spine" is probably the most immediate the band have ever been, finishing the track in a brisk (for them) sub-seven minute time-frame and establishing the dark, catastrophic feel the band is known for. Alan Dubin's voice is once again the centerpiece of this sound; his deranged shrieks and growls adding immeasurably to the unbalanced nature of the music.

Some have complained about the Gollum-ish quality (as in the Lord of the Rings character) of Dubin's vocal style, which is a good way to put it even if it is meant to be belittling. But it's still so captivating to listen to that I was convinced that he could carry an album on his voice alone. "Every God Damn Thing" did a good job of proving me wrong on that. A 32-minute so-called "diss track" with sparse instrumentation and electronic buzzing noise, Dubin more or less carries the track, and the results are pretty boring and meandering. There's a glimmer of hope at about twenty-one minutes in where some guitar pops in and it seems things will finally take off, but as quickly as it comes it goes away, and ends up serving as a colossal middle-finger to anyone patient enough to listen up to that point.

Initially I felt that this song was a terrible way for the band to close out their career with, but in retrospect, maybe it isn't. If anything, it makes the me better appreciate the contribution of the guitar and drums, and the atmosphere they create that makes Dubin's vocals so unsettling. But either way, the album could've done without the song.

So long Khanate; you will be missed.


Score: 7/10


"Wings From Spine"