Their extreme doom descends from grinding to just plain labored. They plug in their amps like they're too tired to breathe, their hands hit their instruments like hundred pound weights. The drummer plays like he's falling limp on the kit. Total silence mires the noise and swallows all hope. With an hour of music divided into just four tracks, the tempo crawls-- it's even slower, and darker, than their self-titled debut. Khanate has the skill for unfolding an action in such excruciating detail that you're slowly edged off your seat. Things Viral willl grab your skull and hold you achingly still as it thrashes through the depths, then totally, quietly wears itself out.

This is the most evil and extreme album I've heard in awhile. This baby spreads darkness and is definitely the soundtrack for the second coming of the Antichrist. I love the screaming of Alan Dubin (ex-Old Lady Drivers)...it�s so full of pain and hate. The music, no, the noise behind the vocals is really interesting because I�ve never heard feedback and sounds like that. So this album is really different than their self titled CD. I can say that there�s no other album to compare with Things Viral. For fans of Sunn O))), Burning Witch and Blind Idiot God a must. An interesting trip for the rest of the world.

Ultra-crisp production is a real plus, precisely capturing every cymbal clash, every tortured scrape of O'Malley's guitar. Dubin's vocals reminded me a lot of Orge from Skinny Puppy in the quieter moments. The guitar chords are stretched so far apart, I can barely call them "riffs". Screeches of feedback, random noises floating in and out -- almost ambient at times. Very skeletal. Tries to capture that visceral stomach-churning intensity of early Swans and comes pretty damn close at times, which is quite an achievement.

Khanate's sound is so indigestible because they like to torture their audience with doom and noise and heaviness and slowness, but they refuse to provide catharsis. Slow bands like Unearthly Trance break it up every once in a while by locking into a heavy groove. Not so with Khanate.

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