Posted on: July 18, 2007 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Khlyst – Chaos is my Name / 2007 Hydra Head / 8 Tracks / http://www.plotkinworks.com/Khlyst/KhlystMain.html /

I must admit, I am not completely behind the work of Khlyst at the onset of this disc. I mean, I like noise in my music, but fucking around on a guitar and just screaming out without any rhyme or reason isn’t that impressive to me. The band does start to become more coherent as the track rolls on, with different elements throwing it at whatever times they feel like. “Chaos Is My Name” is a perfect title for this album, as it shows that Khlyst work through chaos to try to provide some order. When the overall sound is leading toward something, as is the case with the atmospheric opening to “II”, the band succeeds. When there is nothing in the way of structure, and individuals have little idea what the band is trying to attempt with the track, the prospects for success decrease considerably.

A track like “II” could even be on the soundtrack to a horror or sci-fi movie, as it possesses that cold sound that implies certain doom for the protagonist. The meat of “II” is much less noisy than “I” was; the arrangements are Spartanly-laid out on the track, but the band does a lot with little here. The composition swells to include mechanical clanging and tortured souls, which give the track body. It is where the beauty of Khylst first starts becoming evident to me; if the band is able to have a game plan going into a track, they are able to amaze easily. The band goes back into the screaming style with “III”, but there are guitar arrangements that seem to have a little more structure than what confronted listeners during the first track. The track is cut short well short of the two minute mark, but how long honestly can noise and guitar noodling go on without individuals growing wise about the band’s ruse.

Khlyst has a very uneven track record with the songs on “Chaos is my Name”, where some of the tracks are solid gems of noise, and some others seem to have little reason for being on the album in the first place. The repetition of the style is enough at points to make individuals turn off the disc; the band either needs to have an overarching theme with the next album or to include some more stable arrangements. Give this disc a go if you like everything to do with Hydra Head.

Top Tracks: II, VIII

Rating: 4.9/10

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