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Band of the Week: Kublai Khan

You wanna talk about ass beating music? Kublai Khan is THE band for me when I need a pick me up. This is what I call my “bad bitch” music. Any song by Kublai Khan will for sure make you bop your head and groove to the riffs. You would totally lose a try not to headbang, mosh, or dance, etc. if Kublai Khan is on there. Kublai Khan has the perfect blend of grooves and anger. You can hear the intensity and violence in Matt Honeycutt’s vocals. But mixed with a bouncy rhythm and chunky riffs, the overall essence of Kublai Khan is absolute (HA! See what I did there? Because of their new album? No? Okay). I just wanna dance when Kublai Khan comes on, it just makes me so happy!

I have seen Kublai Khan several times and seeing them live never gets old. Honeycutt is great with the crowd and that crowd… is something else. Everyone loses their minds when Kublai Khan hits the stage. It’s so hard not to! They make it so easy to jam. My first few times seeing Kublai Khan, they were touring with predominately metalcore bands, but later they started touring with more hardcore-esque and deathcore bands. I think this is because of their sound. At first, Kublai Khan had more of a metalcore feel, but soon transitioned to incorporating more hardcore and deathcore type riffs and vocals. I love their evolution because they have mastered their sound. Now, I know there is some debates about what qualifies as metalcore, hardcore, and deathcore, etc. but this is simply my opinion and how I hear the music. Music is subjective and can be interpreted differently by others. Even though some of the songs sound redundant because of the usual riffs and sound, they make their songs so groovy that I can’t help but play them all the time.

Discography:

Youth War (2010)

Balancing Survival & Happiness (2014)

New Strength (2015)

Nomad (2017)

Absolute (2019)


Favorite songs:

The Hammer, No Kin, High Hopes, Boomslang, Antpile, 8 Years, Beligerent, and Us & Them.

What are some of your favorite Kublai Khan songs?

Stay Metal,

THE SAW