Sunn O))) is a drone metal duo from Los Angeles, California consisting of bassists/guitarists Greg Anderson & Stephen O’Malley. Their full-length debut ØØ Void & the sophomore effort Flight of the Behemoth respectively were both solid, dropping the latter after forming their own label Southern Lord Records. White1 alongside it’s sequel White2 & more specifically Black One all increased their popularity, the latter being my favorite in the Sunn O))) catalog. Oracle was great too, following it up with their 2nd best in my opinion: Monoliths & Dimensions. 观世音 however might be the band’s worst, coming off the more positively received Life Metal & Pyroclasts to make their Sub Pop Records debut with their 11th studio LP.
“XXANN” epically kicks things off with this 18 & a half minute drone metal composition whereas the doom metal-influenced “Does Anyone Hear Like Venom?” comes through with an ode to the pioneering black metal band Venom. The hypnotically repetitive 2nd & final single “Butch’s Guns” ends the 1st leg containing some of the strongest riffs throughout the full-length prior to “Mindrolling” experimenting with nature recordings. “Everrett Moses” continues the other half blending doom metal & dark ambient while “Glory Black” ends with a fusion of drone metal, ambient, nature recordings & impressionism reminiscent of Earth 2: Special Low Frequency Version.
Life Metal was easily the most I’ve personally enjoyed a Sunn O))) album since Monoliths & Dimensions, but Pyroclasts was almost as great & this new eponymous offering from the drone metal veterans under Sub Pop demonstrates Greg Anderson & Stephen O’Malley willingness to evolve their unmistakable sound into bold new forms. They’re predominantly taking it back to their roots outside of the dark ambient, nature recordings, drone, doom metal, ambient & impressionism undertones handling all of the instrumentation by themselves rather than bringing some outside collaborators in.
Score: 4.5/5
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