Khann Tofutopia

Khann is a suitable addition to a Black Market Activities roster already filled with a number of heavy, genre defying bands. Engineer, Architect, and Gaza are certainly good company and serve as the perfect group of musical peers amongst which to release Khann's thick mix of grind, screamo, and ambient metal. And despite a line-up that has proved to be a bit unstable, Tofutopia shows great promise for a young band just getting out of the gates. The most impressive aspect of Tofutopia is the wide range of credible influences upon which Khann draws. A strong mix of Discordance Axis, Neurosis and Pg. 99 serves as the record's musical backbone, but it isn't uncommon to hear the band venture even farther into the corners of experimental extreme music. It's easy to start to categorize the stylistic leanings of each song, as the majority of the record is broken up into short, spastic outbursts of tracks, totaling 19 in all. "Himalayan Green," "Tofutopia," and "Charisma" all display strong grind influences. "Anodynic Spheres," Bird," and "Volcanic Lungs Part I" fall into more of a wide-open Neurosis sound with a few psychedelic moments that sound similar to the latest project of Anodyne's Mike Hill, Tombs. The noisy experimentation of "Apprehension" is reminiscent of Pg. 99 and the raw emotion coupled with the sparse, clean guitar work of "Lament" is sure to draw a few Saetia and Orchid comparisons. Being able to touch on and execute this many musical styles shows a lot of musical maturity for the band and is a great selling point for fans who love a wide range of heavy tunes. However, it's the somewhat shaky transitions of Tofutopia that leave a bit to be desired. With such a varied songwriting repertoire, the album repeatedly jumps back and forth between distinct musical styles, often creating a slightly discontinuous listening experience. These changes aren't of Mr. Bungle proportions, but in crafting a record like Tofutopia careful attention must be given to transitions between opposing styles in order to preserve the flow of the disc. Luckily, superb guitar tone does much of the work in tying the record together, but a few more fluid transitions would have been much appreciated. Bottom Line: Listeners who find themselves enjoying everything from Discordance Axis to old Pg. 99 and Orchid records to Neurosis will love Khann's debut full-length. The wide range of heavy influences might give the disc's progression an uncertain feel at times, but the songwriting variety is definitely an admirable feat. In the end, it's yet another quality Black Market release.