Khanate release To Be Cruel, their first new album in 14 years

Drone-metal group Khanate have returned with their first new album in 14 years. The band—featuring Stephen O’Malley (Sunn O)))), James Plotkin and Alan Dubin (Old), and Tim Wyskida (Blind Idiot God)—have ended their hiatus with the release of To Be Cruel, which is out now via Sacred Bones. (Physical copies due out June 30.) Hear the album in its entirety below.

“Stephen [O’Malley] and I had an opportunity to record music together for a Drag City compilation in 2016, it was then that we recognized we wanted to do more together. We booked an incredible studio in Woburn, England to record the guitar and drum parts that would become the basis of To Be Cruel,” Wyskida said in a statement. “We shared those initial recordings with James [Plotkin] and Alan [Dubin], who were as motivated as we were to create new Khanate music. James began arranging the material and developing new ideas as soon as he heard the tracks, and Alan immediately started crafting the lyrics.”

Dubin added about the themes on To Be Cruel, “The album viscerally and metaphorically portrays a self-immolating destiny that perhaps ironically blames outside entities. There is a need for revenge but… against who and why?”

Khanate To Be Cruel tracklist:

1. Like a Poisoned Dog
2. It Wants to Fly
3. To Be Cruel