Hello nice people.
It wasn’t exactly a night off for Tuningfork but what I managed to do instead of sitting at my computer and listening to records was go to a show.
Enter Khanate performing at Relative Theory Records.
You regular readers know a show for me usually means a good 2 to 3 hours in a car each way and as much as I want to pretend I have super human skills, there just isn’t enough hours in the day to crank out a normal review and go to a show.
What I do have for you instead is a few high points and some breaking news. In fact I don’t think some of this news has really been reported on yet at all.
Tonight’s highlights:
By far tonight was the best Khanate show I have seen to date (over the span of 4 years) and even the band said it was their strongest performance of this particular tour. My friend standing next to me this evening wins with the best quote of the night. “I think God was listening to this when he created volcanoes.” I’ve seen my share of metal shows but there are sounds Khanate makes live that scare the hell out of me. Slow and threatening like a sky sized machine dying and coming back to life again, yeah on a good night, they sound terrifying and devastatingly good.
Khanate member James Plotkin is working on a collaborative record with Runhild Gammelsæter who is best known for her work in Thorr’s Hammer. (She isn’t just the voice of Thorr’s Hammer, she is THE GREATEST FEMALE DOOM VOCALIST OF ALL TIME and easily ranks in the top 5 doom vocalists EVER.) Plotkin is providing the music ALA his signature sounds of scrapes and gongs while Gammelsæter brings a scale of vocal range and terror that is being affectionately described by J.P as “Diamanda Galas if she was black metal.”
James (USA) and Runhild (Norway) are wrapping up a recording via a long distance exchange of tracks and as it stands now the final product will carry just both of their names and a working title of “Khlyst”. The label for this release is still TBA but I will personally be shocked if it doesn’t appear on Ipecac, Hydra Head, or Southern Lord.
Its been a long time since we have had a proper Runhild release so this showcase stands to make headlines in metal circles around the world. Consider yourself warned.
Stephen O’Malley, also member of Sunno))) will be heading out on the road with Sunno))) for a handful of West Coast dates later this month. Their new record “Black One” is due out in just a matter of weeks and I have been promised there will be proper East Coast tour dates soon. http://www.southernlord.com/lord1.htm
FYI: This is my favorite Sunno))) to date and somehow it’s primal energy manages to sound like a massive step forward and deeper into places that I imagine sound a lot closer to the center of the earth. Earth joke intended.
To further prove the extent of his skills O’Malley is once again providing artist Banks Violette with music for a new installation piece.For more information about B.V.'s recent work at the Whitney see here.
It time for me to retire and I hope if I have nightmares, Khanate works its way in as the soundtrack.
