'The Hammer' Is Kublai Khan's Best Song Thus Far

'The Hammer' is tough as fuck, plain and simple. 

For many hardcore and metalcore aficionados out there, Kublai Khan's name within heavy music means a hell of a lot in 2017, as it has for the last couple years. But for the longest time, this band's name and music have practically meant shit to me as their 2015 full-length 'New Strength' did very little to engage nor captivate yours truly. Ergo, I just passed these guys off as being yet another relatively bland mosh band doing the rounds like your Wage War's, your Knocked Loose's and your Gideon's. (The latter of which are still going at it to this day, bless their hearts).

However, in a plot twist that I myself didn't anticipate, I've recently had a very sudden change of heart on the Texas band and just cannot stop jamming the quartet's most recent single, the threatening beast that is 'The Hammer'.

The funny thing about my 180-degree opinion shift regarding Kublai Khan and their latest tune is that they haven't really changed up their musical game since 'New Strength'; they're still very much the same mosh pit activating, chug-heavy, breakdown-loving hardcore band they've always been. Yet on this newer, chest-beating rager, their musical and sonic screws haven't been changed so much as they've had a real good tightening up. And that has made all the difference for me it seems.

Nolan Ashley's riffs are larger and tougher than ever before and his backing vocals on 'The Hammer' add more to their sound; Isaac Lamb's punchy drumming slams immensely hard alongside Eric English's pulsating bass lines, and Matt Honeycut's lyrics and vocals seem to be driven more from a deeper pit of emotional rage rather and not coming off as mere macho tough-guy act like in the past. Moreover, the production and mix found on this cut (the kind that I assume will follow on their forthcoming record) is also much clearer and cleaner sounding than on past material, but without thankfully sacrificing any of the band's intimidating presence or impact.

Basically, every single facet of Kublai Khan's sound has been stepped up with 'The Hammer', and if this one song is anything to go on, then their upcoming album, 'Nomad', should hopefully be an absolute banger.

Kublai Khan's 'Nomad' will be out September 29th via Rise Records. Pre-order it here, mosh lords.