Band:	Khan
Album:	Creatures
Style:	Psychedelic rock, Stoner metal
Release date:	February 2023

01. Slow
02. How Old
03. Follow
04. Eyes, Lungs, Arms & Mind
05. Confusion
06. Creatures

The popular response to the numerous King Buffalo albums released in the past couple of years is good evidence that there’s an appetite for other bands that similarly merge mellow psychedelia with patches of heavy fuzz. On that note, enter Khan, and their distinct lack of wrath.

Given the laid-back reputation of Australians, perhaps one would expect more metal bands from the country to play music on the more chill side. Still, there are Lucid Planet on that front, and also Khan, a three-piece from Melbourne (and a band I discovered thanks to a shoutout by Lucid Planet on their Facebook page). Khan started life not as a metal band; their first recording, 2016’s On Silent Space EP, was very much a alt/psychedelic rock record. Debut full-length album Vale saw their first steps towards stretching out those roots into longer-form hazier jams that were also punctuated with heavier passages, and Khan have continued taking steps in the same direction, ultimately arriving at where they find themselves on Creatures.

Still, even when going heavy, they can be quite languid about it. The aptly named “Slow” takes its time; even when a big, fuzzy chorus punctuates the otherwise quiet landscape of this opening song, there’s no need to rush. Only in its closing stages does the song push the tempo a bit more, with an lively, jamlike percussion-driven climax. “Follow” similarly opts for weight over speed in its heavier moments; the powerful opening riff to this song is reprised later on accompanied by vocals with a seriously Ozzy-esque tone. This is the only instance where Josh Bills goes so hard, and it works well to produce a Black Sabbath vibe in that moment.

I did reference King Buffalo in the intro paragraph, and they are one of the more natural bands to compare Khan to on Creatures. Despite a rockier, more up-tempo vibe, “How Old” still opens up on the mellower side, and the clean guitar motif in the verse of this song, along with the combination of spacious instrumentation, slick drum rhythms and tender vocals opening “Eyes, Lungs, Arms & Mind”, do have a very similar energy to material on the likes of Acheron and Regenerator by King Buffalo. However, I don’t know if KB ever launch into a passage as emphatic as the heavy riff that comes in two-thirds into the latter track.

This closing period of “Eyes, Lungs...” is one of several instances where Khan show their true potential; this big, bold, heavy jam, and the way the instruments and vocals build up, is such a high point. Khan are very solid with their longer, jammier sequences across Creatures, with “How Old” dedicating pretty much its entire second half to a slickly meandering psych-rock solo that runs for at least 3 minutes without ever losing its charm. “Follow” has a louder, brasher solo that comes in at around the same point from the start of the song as the one in “How Old”; it’s far briefer, but shows the soloing range of Bills. Still, it’s where this track goes next that makes it so impressive; it’s funny to look back at that first EP from Khan with its predominantly 4-minute tracks and see that they’ve reached the point where they can not only attempt a 10-minute song, but nail it such that it turns out to be the record’s standout track. The second half of this song is a wonderful journey, starting quietly after a hefty first half, and building with some lush guitar intricacies and soft vocals gradually layered on top, reminding me nicely of more psychedelic Weedpecker moments.

The album does slightly run out of steam towards the end; “Confusion” is fine, but a tad one-dimensional coming after two such great tracks in “Follow” and “Eyes, Lungs...” (although the super-mellow title track serves as a nice conclusion to the album). Still, this is a really solid stoner/psychedelic record that nails the riffs, the jams and the vibes; after II, Lucid Planet have given me something else to be thankful for by introducing me to this album.