The first time I listened to it, it stressed me out so bad I must have drank a half case of beer by the time it was over with. I was a fan of the first album because it was a less blues-based, more slowed down, minimalist and obtusely sounding take on Burning Witch, but they went even further with all that on this one.

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.

"Heavy" in a more abstract sense. It doesn't have the pure low-frequency rumble of some other albums, but in terms of mood, its fucking heavy. It also might be the slowest album, ever. I wouldn't recommend playing this in the car, it makes me lose my concentration just sitting here.

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