Khlyst - Chaos Is My Name (Hydra Head)
10 seconds into this disc I was offended and
shut it off. It sounded like a bunch of stoners who thought metal was a
joke had made a noise album. But a week later, since I had to review
it, I put the album back in and was converted by "Chaos Is My Name". I
am not very familiar with ambient music and do not know if it demands a
following or simply accents a person's album collection, but I found
myself listening to this twice in a row. The first half is full of
ghostly vocalizations and the echoing protest of metallic objects being
scraped across a hard floor by invisible hands. Highlights include
guttural female orgasms and the illusion that my bedroom is actually a
large space full of dust and industrial decay. Unfortunately the
repetitive keyboards on track VI conjure nothing but lonely late night
games of Resident Evil... But that's still creepy. VII and VIII depart
from the haunted ambience to a metal miasma of fuzzy guitar and
disorganized growls and screeches. I think fans of Type O Negative's
ambient intermission pieces on "Bloody Kisses" would enjoy Khlyst.
This album dares you to spend the night in an abandoned warehouse. It
forces you into the darkness and locks the door.
Kienan Almeida
