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KTL

NON-METAL

XW · formed 2006 · last active 2020

KTL was a drone/electronic duo formed in 2006 by guitarist Stephen O'Malley (of Sunn O))) and electronic musician Peter Rehberg (Pita, Editions Mego). The project originated as the score for Gisele Vienne and Dennis Cooper's theatre production Kindertotenlieder, which premiered in Brest, France, in March 2007. Working across drone metal, dark ambient, and noise, the duo released six drone-doom albums between 2006 and 2021 on labels including Editions Mego and Thrill Jockey.

SCORE PROFILE

JazzyBalkanHardcoreSurfBarbershopDeathBlackTechnicalGlitchTheatricalFolkDoomDroneShoegazeAmbient8-bit
Jazzy0
Balkan0
Hardcore0
Surf0
Barbershop0
Death0
Black1
Technical3
Glitch6
Theatrical3
Folk0
Doom2
Drone8
Shoegaze0
Ambient7
8-bit0

Accent numbers counted towards the index. Hover an axis — or hold it on a phone — for what it means.

MEMBERS

CONNECTIONS

member · 7
label · 4

FURTHER LISTENING

Nearest score profiles in the atlas.

  • Turner-verse / Hydra HeadEI 24
    House of Low Culture
    AmbientDroneGlitch

    House of Low Culture is an American drone/dark ambient and experimental project fronted by Aaron Turner (Isis, Sumac), active since 2000 and named after a song from Isis's Sawblade EP. Its music marries warm cinematic tones with murky, sub-nautical textures, and its lineup has drawn on figures from the wider Hydra Head/experimental-metal orbit. Since 2010 the project has centered on Turner alongside his Mamiffer bandmate and wife Faith Coloccia, with Kevin Micka joining in 2020.

  • Turner-verse / Hydra HeadEI 25
    Lotus Eaters
    DroneAmbientGlitch

    Lotus Eaters is an American experimental electroacoustic/drone supergroup formed around 1999, featuring Aaron Turner of Isis, Stephen O'Malley of Sunn O))), and James Plotkin of OLD and Khanate. Working in a minimal, guitar-and-electronics drone idiom, the trio released the CD Mind Control for Infants (Neurot Recordings, 2002) and Wurmwulv (Troubleman Unlimited, 2007). As the only project shared by Turner and O'Malley, it forms the shortest bridge between the Isis pole and the Sunn O))) pole of the atlas. (Not to be confused with the Liverpool new-wave band The Lotus Eaters.)

  • Tool-verseEI 20
    Nine Inch Nails (Ghosts era)
    AmbientDroneGlitch

    Under the Ghosts banner, Nine Inch Nails set aside industrial rock for near-wordless dark ambient. Ghosts I–IV (2008, self-released, Grammy-nominated) was described by Reznor as "a soundtrack for daydreams," compared to Brian Eno and Robert Fripp. Ghosts V: Together (2020) is warmer and more soothing, likened to Eno and William Basinski; its companion Ghosts VI: Locusts (2020) turns dissonant and "industrialised," built from musique-concrète bleeps and film-noir horns into what one review called "a soundscape of impending collapse."

  • Patton-verseEI 26
    House of Hayduk
    AmbientGlitchDrone

    House of Hayduk is the solo/collective vehicle of Düreforsög guitarist Mads Heldtberg. Its 2012 debut City of Quartz (Koolarrow Records) is an instrumental record built from analogue synthesizers, dub-inflected bass and free-form percussion, evoking a Blade Runner-style dystopia (the title nods to Mike Davis's book on Los Angeles). Faith No More bassist Billy Gould performs on the record, alongside This Heat's Charles Hayward.

  • Southern Lord / droneEI 33
    Kovtun
    DroneAmbientGlitch

    Kovtun is the (sur)realist noise/dark-ambient project of São Paulo, Brazil musician Raphael Mandra, active since around 2012-2013 with a large, prolific discography of atmospheric, ritualistic releases. Recent work like Black Goat (2026) layers post-metal and doom weight, calculated black metal flirtations, oppressive drone and improvised jazz textures over a dark-ambient/noise foundation. Mandra also records as Rádio Morto (citing Neurosis, Swans and Burzum as influences) and collaborated with fellow Brazilian act Umbilichaos on the 2018 album Belong to Nothing, conceived after a Neurosis show.

  • UnaffiliatedEI 18
    Ghostmass (大鬼眾)
    DroneAmbientGlitch

    Ghostmass (大鬼眾) is a Beijing improvisation collective formed in 2021 from a shared passion for drone, doom, and extreme metal, filtered through harsh noise and free improvisation. Reviewer Michael Scharf (Outside Noise) describes their 2024 album 'Ghost Meditation' as evolving from chaotic noise toward a more structured, doom-metal-inspired sound, with anguished throat-singing-style vocals over grating feedback and power electronics. The lineup draws members from Beijing noise-rock scene acts Carsick Cars and Soviet Pop.

  • UnaffiliatedEI 23
    Zonal
    DroneGlitchAmbient

    Zonal are the British duo of Justin Broadrick (Godflesh) and Kevin Martin (The Bug), a reactivation of their 1990s Techno Animal partnership trading in cavernous bass, cacophonous dub and ear-splitting drone. Their debut album Wrecked was released on Relapse Records on 25 October 2019, with Philadelphia poet-vocalist Moor Mother featured across its first six tracks. The record was mastered by Stefan Betke (Pole) and pairs industrial hip-hop menace with drone-metal weight.

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  • Post-metalEI 28
    Tribes of Neurot
    AmbientDroneGlitch

    Tribes of Neurot is an American experimental group formed in 1995 by the members of Neurosis as an ambient, ritual-noise counterpart to that band, weaving tribal structures, drone, musique concrete and manipulated field recordings into abstract soundscapes. Their best-known work, Grace (1999), was conceived as a companion to Neurosis' Times of Grace: built from sounds taken from that album and designed to be played simultaneously with it, synchronizing track by track so the two discs form an enhanced experience neither delivers alone, while still standing on its own. Later conceptual releases include Adaptation and Survival: The Insect Project and Meridian.

  • UnaffiliatedEI 27
    Acid Mothers Temple
    DroneAmbientGlitch

    Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. are a Japanese psychedelic collective founded in 1995 by guitarist Kawabata Makoto as an outlet for a rotating cast of players, releasing their self-titled debut on PSF Records in 1997. Extraordinarily prolific, with well over 100 albums, they fuse acid-rock jams, krautrock motorik, raga drones and harsh noise into cosmic long-form freak-outs. The touring lineup has long centered on Kawabata with Higashi Hiroshi, Tsuyama Atsushi and, at points, guitarist Mitsuru Tabata.

  • Turner-verse / Hydra HeadEI 22
    Doolhof
    DroneAmbientGlitch

    Doolhof (Dutch for 'maze') is an experimental collaboration between Aaron Turner (Sumac, Old Man Gloom, ex-Isis) on guitars and effects, Will Brooks a.k.a. MC dälek of dälek on vocals and electronics, and Belgian audio-visual artist Dennis Tyfus on vocals, tapes and effects. Recorded live at Roadburn Festival 2019 in Tilburg and released by Turner's SIGE Records in 2020, it fuses abstract hip-hop, drone, ambient and noise into immersive, texture-focused long-form pieces.

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