Khan Tengri - KT2

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 2017
Time: 54:43
Size: 125,7 MB
Label: Self Released
Styles: Progressive Rock
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. Calling All Beings - 8:13
 2. The Golden Void - 4:24
 3. Ashoka - 7:18
 4. The Misanthrope's Blues - 3:57
 5. Vampyre - 4:26
 6. Minas Morgul - 5:18
 7. Ruins - 4:12
 8. Blind Statue - 6:11
 9. Last Days, Last Nights - 5:16
10. The Streets Of Charn - 5:24

Last year saw the debut release from Khan Tengri..'Aeons' was a "lush collection of songs that have beauty, substance and a vision rooted in a Zen like calm" (read my review here) and I'm pleased to say that Allister Thompson, the man behind the project, has given me the honour of premiering two tracks from the upcoming sophomore release 'KT2'. For those who don't know, Thompson is also the man behind The Gateless Gate and some of the most glacially beautiful ambient/kosmische music. Beneath the following review of the album are two exclusive tracks from the album, both are cover versions: Hawkwind's 'The Golden Void' and Popul Vuh's 'Last Days, Last Nights (Letzte Tage-Letzte Nachte)' - Thompson says of these covers "I recorded these songs for personal reasons; I’ve been around too long to think that doing a cover version will elicit any more attention for an album. My reason is that these are pretty well my two favourite bands of the seventies." If I may use Thompson's words again, 'KT2' sees Khan Tengri "delving even deeper into the cavernous worlds of dark psychedelic music, space rock, progressive rock and ambient. Sixties and seventies influences abound in an extremely eclectic collection with a brooding, meditative, wryly cynical lyrical focus that often contains caustic commentary on humanity's failings. It's music to cheerfully accompany the apocalypse." Anyone who has listened to 'Aeons' (and if you haven't, do so!) or indeed any of his Gateless Gate material, will already know that he is a consummate musician and his love of psychedelic and kosmische music shines through in his music and 'KT2' further highlights this. 'Calling All Beings' opens the album with some gorgeous synth washes and a simple but highly effective guitar melody before the vocals enter, soft and lilting. Immediately it recalls the heady days of late sixties/early seventies pastoral psychedelia...it is chilled and truly beautiful, even the more strident psych guitar that sits over the lush harmonies cannot break the spell that Thompson has conjured. The track is some eight minutes in length and over that time it ebbs and flows...there is a sublime kosmische passage sees the track out that is pure Berlin School. Next up is the first of the cover versions...Hawkwind's 'The Golden Void'. Thompson's thinking behind this version is as follows: "While “The Golden Void” is basically a perfect psych song, I always wondered how it would sound with the late Huw Lloyd-Langton, who was not in the band in 1975, on lead guitar. He’s a big influence, so I set out to record that version". Now, in my book you have to be pretty brave to cover Hawkwind, they are such an iconic band, but Thompson has really made this track his own. There is enough of Hawkwind left in it for any purists but Thompson has imbued it with his own charm and take on psychedelia. There is some lovely organ-like synths running through it and the original's chutzpah is still evident. It is when the guitar comes in' however, that things really start to shine...Thompson manages to channel the feel and texture of one of his influences' guitar and it really brings the track alive....objective met! 'Ashoka' (an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty apparently) is another that invokes the spirit and vibe of the early seventies. A slow burning track, the opening four minutes or so see some more sublime psych guitar vie with another guitar playing simple, repetitive chords but it manages to create an atmosphere of bliss and serenity. As it progresses it opens up into a mid-tempo, stately psychedelic track with an undercurrent of eastern mysticism that imbues it with an exotic vibe. 'The Misanthrope's Blues' sees things take a heavier turn - heavy fuzz laden guitar accompanies Thompson's vocals, delivered with the titular misanthropic snarl. It is a distinct sea change from what has gone before but is a wonderful heavy psych workout. The vocals and the guitar put me in mind of The Bevis Frond, which can only be a good thing. 'Vampyre', in distinct contrast to its dark title is a beautiful bucolic folk track, Thompson swapping his electric guitar for an acoustic one which he wields with equal skill. Musically it is a haunting track but lyrically it IS dark and full of mournful regret...wonderful stuff!.
'Minas Morgul' opens with a drone, cavernous and dense that feels like the very portal to hell has been left ajar, and stabs of guitar cry like a tocsin in the dark. The track progresses like this for its entirety, conjuring foreboding visions and nightmares from the gloom. 'Ruins' sees things return to the light with a track reminiscent of Jefferson Airplane with its wonderful lyrical feel and sixties tinged psych...is there nothing to which this man cannot turn his hand? 'Blind Statue' is another lilting slow number, rich with mournful vocals and guitar, but at the minute and half mark things change: the music becomes almost dublike and there is a spoken word passage, describing a worker being laid off at work...it's a pretty coruscating comment on the state of things today and, taken with the melancholic and rueful lyrics, is a potent message. This followed by the second of the featured cover versions. As mentioned it is Popul Vuh's 'Last Days, Last Nights', another brave choice but, again, backed up by Thompson. He says of this version "As far as I know, the beautifully spiritual “Last Days, Last Nights” from the eponymous 1976 album is Popol Vuh's only English-language song. The only thing wrong with the original version is that I find it too short! I always wanted the verse and chorus to repeat. So again, I recorded the version I’d like to hear." It is a wonderful version, the original's beauty is evident but Thompson's own twist on it has resulted in something with an almost West Coast vibe. The album is closed with 'The Streets Of Charn' and it reflects Thompson's work with The Gateless Gate - a track of kosmische ambient music full of swathes of glacial synth and sparkling drones..it is a track in which one can become truly lost in a reverie of pure zen bliss..an alluring way in which to close the album. I have long been an admirer of Allister Thompson's work, both with The Gateless Gate, Khan Tengri and his more singer/songwriter work with Twilight Fields...he has a philosophical and spiritual outlook on life that is affirming and thoughtfulbut with a healthy amount of cynicism and his music is always nothing less than top notch. 'KT2' serves to reinforce this. It acts as a perfect showcase for his skill and artistry, taking a gallimaufry range of influences and styles and combining them to form an album that is distinctly psychedelic, often beautiful but always immersive and satisfying. His bold choices of cover versions pays off, taking iconic tracks from iconic bands and adding his own unique twist without taking anything away. 'KT2' is a wonderful, wonderful album...much kudos to Thompson and long may he continue to produce gems like this. 

KT2