Khost’s latest comes to us with a dual-format album release
Down in the trenches of the doom-industrial metal underground, Khost is a monumental force of aural destruction. On September 20th, they will unveil their fifth studio album, Many Things Afflict Us Few Things Console Us, in a title that sums up the band’s groundwork of describing the human condition through a prism of endless weightiness. With this release Khost has created two separate experiences; a digital version and a vinyl version, both with their own different paths through the band’s hellish audio worlds.
Digital Vs Vinyl
The digital version of “Many Things Afflict Us Few Things Console Us” adds seven additional gems that enhance the album’s range of sonics already dominating the experience. ADRIAN STAINBURNER’s remix of “Yellow Light” features the legendary vocals of Stephen Mallinder (Cabaret Voltaire, Wrangler) furthering its authenticity. BERENECES brings his known deep and dark D&B textures to remix “Death Threat,” again enhancing the level of range from song to song across the album. Khost brings their own mix to the vinyl, a design specifically catering to warmer playback formats and supporting a crackling wall of sound.
Versions:
- Ltd Ed 200 copies on red heavyweight 180g vinyl version in a reverse board sleeve
- Black heavyweight 180g vinyl version in a reverse board sleeve
- 18 track CD in reverseboard digipak
A Disorienting Journey
Khost describes the album experience as “venturing into an off-limits wing of some gallery after-hours, with each turn more disorientating than where you just were.” This beautifully summarizes the band’s inclination to create hypnotic and discomforting soundscapes that expose and unnerve its listeners.
Many tracks were inspired by Khost’s live shows and soundchecking experiments which saw punk and early industrial rhythms colliding with extreme electronics. The disparate tones have intertwined and taken over the core of “Many Things Afflict Us Few Things Console Us,” reanimating a familiar, yet unusual atmosphere that longtime Khost fans will recognize.
The Khost Sound: Signature Devastation
If you are already familiar with Khost’s sonic patchwork, you’ll feel right at home (or deliciously uneasy), in the band’s trademark, often overwhelming, signature sounds: detuned guitars that could tip over the edge into chaotic collapse at any second, corrosive percussion that sounds like it was dug up from a post-apocalyptic cave, and VHS ‘throwback’ grime mixed with restless noise. All of this congeals into a heavy haze, rumbling under Khost’s sensory attacks. The abysmal bass, riffs and industrial buzz creates a very dirty experience—similar to the warehouse in which it may have been recorded. Layered on top of this, the vocals are stretched and contorted with a sound that goes beyond the range of recognition and reinforces Khost’s foundation.
Standouts and Digital Extras
Reading Between The Lines starts its outcast, hypnotic beat, then dives into a deep wall of discord. It perfectly conveys Khost’s ability to juxtapose structure with disorder.
On the digital edition, there are seven bonus tracks that, like the other styles of the album, are also an extension of Khost’s sonic world. Here are a few:
TVSB: An excellent 7-minute journey into a surreal, almost beautiful dream
Yellow Light: Sinister sound bites that could easily be the intro to a horror film
Cheapside: The audio equivalent of waiting in line at Hell’s most sought after nightclub
Death Car: A track that wonderfully combines a strong progressive beat with textures reminiscent of industrial music and underground club density
“Many Things Afflict Us Few Things Console Us” isn’t just an album; it’s an experience—to be enjoyed either digitally or on vinyl. Prepare for affliction, consolation, and to be utterly changed again on September 20.
Khost via Cold Spring Records
