​Kilravock - Tyranny of the Clock

​​Kilravock

Tyranny of the Clock
self-released; 2025

By Jamie Funk
​

​Kilravock’s Tyranny of the Clock is less a cohesive release and more a jagged mirror, fractured, raw, and intentionally difficult to parse. Based in Omaha, Kilravock delivers three new solo tracks as a preview of an upcoming full length, along with a John Lennon cover and two contributions from his collaborative projects: the post punk leaning The Alliterates and the experimental noise collective Lucid Fugue. The result is a chaotic, disorienting sampler that seems more interested in testing boundaries than drawing you in gently. I found myself confused, intrigued, and at times completely overwhelmed, but I kept listening.

The opener, “Who Killed Saint Monday,” sets the tone with a four chord groove that wobbles in and out of time. It is rough around the edges in a way that feels deliberate. The vocals jump between monotone and something more performative, almost cartoonishly villainous. The mix is murky, the lyrics buried so deep I could barely make out a word, but somehow that worked in its favor. The song spirals fast, and I had to stop trying to hold on to anything. It is messy and wild, and that is part of its pull.

“Solidarity Forever” takes the chaos even further. Everything is drenched in reverb to the point of abstraction. I could hardly distinguish the elements, just waves of noise and occasional vocal fragments that disappear as quickly as they surface. There is what sounds like a second vocalist, possibly female, but again, the effect is so heavy I was left guessing. It felt less like a song and more like wandering into a dream where everything is distorted and a little menacing.

Then comes “Incompatibility \[2025 mix],” which immediately stands apart with more clarity and volume. The fidelity shift is jarring but welcome. It actually sounds mixed, and there is enough shape here to latch onto. It is easily the most listenable track in a traditional sense and the first time I felt like I could meet the artist halfway.

The cover of “Working Class Hero \[2025 mix]” was surprisingly straightforward. After the first three tracks, I expected it to be unrecognizable, but it plays like someone set up a mic in a living room full of people singing along. It is raw, rough, and communal. It does not try to reinterpret Lennon’s message so much as channel it through a lo fi lens. It sounds great.

“The Alliterates – Labor Day \[2025 mix]” veers into snarling punk rock territory. It has the energy of the Sex Pistols but filtered through something more industrial and aggressive. The drums hit like metal on metal. It is not polished, and it does not want to be. Then there is “Lucid Fugue – Beg For Scraps \[2025 Remaster],” which might have been my favorite track of the bunch. It plays like a descent into a psychedelic nightmare, full of abrasive textures and haunting noise. It does not offer resolution. It just drops you in and leaves you there.

Tyranny of the Clock does not pretend to be a traditional record. It is more like a sonic sketchbook or a warped mixtape, each piece revealing a different angle of Kilravock’s world. There is no through line, no clean arc. But that scattershot approach feels intentional. If you are trying to understand what Kilravock is about, this release gives you multiple entry points, though none of them are easy. And that, I think, is the point.

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