- Artists:
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During Shellac’s excellent track ‘The End Of Radio’, about the nature of recording and broadcasting electronically amplified rock music, there’s a line (when performed live at least) that goes something like this: “This microphone converts sound into electricity/which travels down this wire/which travels up a hill/and is broadcast out into space/Into motherfucking space!... Distant alien civilization/can you hear this snare drum?”
As meta-explorations of sound production go, this is top notch but as with most things rock & roll, the instinctual works better than the intellectual. The physical out powers the philosophical. Brawn decimates brain. In fact if you want to demonstrate to someone how sound works, you couldn’t do much better than to take them to a Sunn O))) gig. The fundamental performance – Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson wearing monks’ cowls and playing Les Paul guitars through racks of fx pedals and a cityscape of amplification at extreme volumes – performs a fundamental role. It reveals, very viscerally, how all noise is vibration. And even more fundamentally it reveals how everything is vibration. With each rupturing chord progression they state: all energy was created during the big bang and cannot be destroyed, only transferred. Every doom-corrupted emanation proclaims: the potential energy stored on Earth in the form of fuels and raw materials was created by the Sun and every noise we make utilizes that energy. The cult rock group Sunn O))) are a mirror image of this process. They formed as a tribute act to the Seattle doom/drone outfit Earth, playing sludge-blasted riffs at ultra low BPMs and excessively high volumes, disguising themselves in ceremonial robes and behind banks of dry ice to focus the attention onto the punishing sound they created. The duo, who recently celebrated their tenth birthday, record everything on analogue tape. Even after they stop playing there is still a hiss in the background. As with an untuned television, this picks up background noise which is, if you like, from the creation of the universe. Everything exists as waves. Sunn O))) reflect energy back from whence it came. They hold a mirror up to God. If you ever, genuinely, wanted to be drowned in sound a SunnO))) gig would do it. You could feel your lungs fill with waves. Feel the aqueous humor form into ripples. Feel the blood ripple. Feel your body liquefy.
This brings us to one of the biggest criticisms of Sunn O))) you are likely to hear: that they only work live. That their raison d’etre is punishingly loud volumes designed to provoke a violent physical and emotional response and this just can’t be replicated by your home stereo or without the sense of event of their live gigs. And, even though they are my favourite rock band, I must admit that there has been something in this, in the past. Grimmrobe Demos showcases their brutal monochromatic majesty; Black One displays how the aesthetic of black metal can be applied respectfully to other genres; Dømkirke indicates something of the complex spirituality of the band; but all in all, very few people other than an uneasy alliance of fans of the avant garde and extreme metal bought their albums. And this was probably because these LPs were regarded as simulacra that had none of the profound physicality of the live show and as not being markedly different enough from each other in their own right.
Video: Sunn O))) 'The Sinking Belle' (live)
Whether this is true or not, (I’d say not; most would disagree with me) this perception began to change with the release of their joint album with Boris, Altar (2006), which showcased a surprisingly light touch on tracks such as ‘The Sinking Belle’ with the Sweet Hereafter’s Jesse Sykes. This image should buckle and shatter completely with Monoliths & Dimensions their seventh studio album which attempts – and succeeds – to weave acoustic instrumentation into the dense dreamsludge of guitar reverberation. Even though the core remains the same, several other names are essential to the mix here. First and foremost is classically-trained composer and savant Eyvind Kang whose arrangements here have ensured that this album isn't the extreme metal equivalent of KISS Symphony or Metallica’s S&M. Instead, using the basic Sunn O))) building blocks – drop-tuned Melvins riffs played ultra slow – he has devised a score which weaves the acoustic elements into the foundation according to subtle pitches in timbre and tone. The instruments include a trio of double basses, a string section, acoustic conch shells, hydrophone, piano, woodwind and a trio of trombones.
Playing this humble instrument is not only Earth’s Steve Moore and John Cage disciple Stuart Dempster, but avant-hero Julian Priester, who has formerly worked with Sun Ra, Herbie Hancock and John Coltrane. There are also myriad subtle nods to the avant garde/jazz fusion – the tracks ‘Aghartha’ and ‘Big Church’ both refer to ‘Electric’ Miles Davis, and ‘Alice’ genuflects towards the late and much lamented Mrs Coltrane. This is something that has already ruffled some feathers in the new music community if the letters page of WIRE magazine is anything to go by. A recent epistle saw a poor reader getting hot under the collar that people (including the magazine) were taking long haired 'poser idiots' seriously! While it must be galling to slavishly follow left-field music for years just to witness a great leap forward occur in heavy metal with all the conservative, anti-modernist implications that are associated with this genre, one can only wonder what kind of pilchard would deny the greatness of this record just because of taxonomical associations while simultaneously declaring execrable hipsters My Cat Is An Alien to be the way forward. I mean, theorizing about music is great and everything (and I spend most of my waking hours attempting to do it and have nothing but respect for the handful of writers who are great at it) but it’s kind of apparent it should be abandoned the second it starts making you listen to utter shite and dismissing self-evident brilliance.
Everything here is about the reverberation and nothing fits into the tongue and groove of sound more ‘comfortably’ than Mayhem frontman Atilla Csihar’s astonishing vocal performance; his parched ruminations on hollow earth theory (‘Aghartha’) stand in pained contrast to the trickling hydrophone and resonant conch shells. Elsewhere he is a necessary counterpoint to the clean and stern vocal lines of a Viennese women’s choir (directed by soprano Jessika Kenney). And the reverberation has a fractal clarity, which will (and does) support repetitive listening and examination.
It pains me to even have to say this but this isn’t going to be for everyone. For the internet-damaged and terminally short of attention to the myopically conservative, to those who choose music merely as a lifestyle accessory, this album will upset, confuse or bore. For anyone interested in music that works both as art and an intensely new exciting experience - this is easily the best album that has come out this year.
John Doran is editor of TheQuietus.com; for Sunn 0)))'s track-by-track guide to Monoliths & Dimensions for The Quietus, follow this link
- Watch: Sunn O))) soundtracking Norwegian jeans ad
- Supersonic 2009: The DiS Review
- Supersonic 2009: A Bluffer's Guide
- Battles, Sunn O))), J Mascis and more for 10 years of ATP festival
- Sunn O))) shines on Supersonic
- A Month in Records: May 2009
- Sunn O)))'s Stephen O'Malley collaborates with Dennis Cooper for Jerk
- Sunn O))) - Monoliths & Dimensions
More Sunn O)))
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Get Capes, wear capes, DOOM: Sunn O))) tour
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December doom: Sunn O))) and Boris to deliver Altar in full...
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Sunn O))), Earth, Boris at Kentish Town Forum, Camden Town, Mon 10 Dec
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Share on Facebookthis review came up just as I put my copy on!
it's mind blowing. 10/10 is looking about right so far
great review
I'm still waiting for my copy to drop through my letterbox
Great review
It's obviously early days, but I think this will most likely be my album of the year too.
I love this album, I could say it's their best yet!
I am always disturbed that no one ever seems to mention one of sunn o)))'s most important albums 00 Void was pretty ground breaking when it came out.
I remember a friend of mine telling me he saw them live once ( with Matt Pike of High on fire/sleep ), had no idea they were a band. They had lined up Sunn o))) brand amps along the edge of the stage. Cranked them up with lights and smoke and blown the ears off the crowd. This was all before 00 void was even released.
I've been a fan since I heard the first notes of "Richard"...
I have to say..
This album is totally amazing. I'm convinced this is the sound of Sunn mastering their art. Dig the jazz flavours too, as a fan of the genre.
don't talk f*cking wet.
these nobbies wouldn't know a song if it slapped them in the face.
hmmmm
Any review which has the words "although (insert reviewed band's name) is my favourite band......
is immediately suspect.
I'm not saying it's wrong in it's assessment of the album at all, but it does leave a 10/10 feeling a little slanted....
I must admit
I'm struggling to really understand how this can get 10/10.
"It pains me to even have to say this but this isn’t going to be for everyone." You're not wrong!
Rob42
You'd rather I wasn't open about this? Do you think liking a band should preclude a journalist from reviewing them?
As I've explained, ad nauseum on the 10/10 thread, the score isn't really that important compared to the 'analysis'.
The simple facts are this: if a critic only listens to indie then they're not going to be equipped to give any kind of view on this album other than 'Christ, this is just noise' or 'Wow, this is bonkers', and neither of those would sit well on a site as good as DiS. After all, it's not fucking gigwise.
I'm into 'extreme' music so it follows that I like the cream of extreme music. The logical conclusion of what you're saying is that you couldn't trust Sean reviewing a Shins album or Mike Diver reviewing a Rolo album or Andrzej reviewing a [insert Lukowski's favourite band here] album.
Also, I've reviewed SunnO))) many times before for Plan B, Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, Playlouder, The Quietus, Stool Pigeon, Bizarre etc. This is the first time I'm being all 'full marks' about one of their albums. (Although I was pretty close with 'Altar' their joint album with Boris. And quite rightly so in my opinion.)
In my opinion! There it is again. Tells you everything you need to know that phrase.
Team Cooper UK: I'll refer you to the part of the review where I talk about lifestyle music. Music that sounds good on the radio, music that matches your trousers, music that you associate with a computer game. Not for me. (Or rather it is for me but it's not the be all and end all.)
This is not just music this is fucking art.
I've seen this band mentioned heaps around these here parts
but I just can't get past the stupid name to bring myself to check 'em out.
My loss, quite possibly...
i think theyre a great band...interesting review as well
. i got into them fairly recently, i had the walk-into-a-record-shop-and-instantly-buy-the-background-music-because-it-instantly-translates experience which has never happened to me before...the record was "Altar". and im really ecited about the new one, the reviews ive read all seem super positive which is encouraging.
but i wish people wouldnt keep going on about how "its not music man, its art".
FUCK OFF!
its music. it's pretentious as hell within the same realms of Radiohead (not that they sound in any way similar) but its the same way of looking at it. its not a bloody reinvention. theyve been doing the same thing for ten years and they are very very good at it. leave it there and lets all live in awe of just how amazing Sunn O))) are.
Exactly as John says
I asked him to do this review because he could do it justice in a way none of the current DiS regulars can, it's his field and it's a tricky field. If that leads to a 10/10 mark then my conclusion is 'this sounds like an amazing record', regardless of whether I'll be jazzing to it every night. And I mean, ameliorating the mark to account for the fact it lacks universal appeal would be ludicrous: 'my record of the year! but a lot of people won't like it! 2/10!'
Music isn't art.
Anyone who thinks that is a bit silly.
The end paragraph:
"For the internet-damaged and terminally short of attention to the myopically conservative, to those who choose music merely as a lifestyle accessory, this album will upset, confuse or bore."
It sounds as though you're pretty much disregarding and patronising anyone who doesn't like this record.
Surely its a bit of a reviewing faux pas to allude to a relationship between the like/dislike of a record and the listeners intellect?
Furthermore:
"I like the cream of extreme music".
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Read what I've written
I said it's art as well as music. These things aren't mutually exclusive.
If you think that music isn't capable of being art; of representing a fundamental truth about the human condition in a way that no other form can; if it just exists as another thing to do after work like switching on the X Box or the telly, then I'm not sure what to say to you.
Chrissfa: cream/best of/whatever. You think I'm gauche - maybe like Swiss Toni from the Fast Show. So what though? What's your actual point? Do you specialize in just listening to the mediocre bits of your favourite genres?
Also, the word "bore" suggests that I'm not being patronising. I say it's not for everyone. What do you want me to do? Paint you a picture?
Yeah sorry,
it was obviously the way you phrased it rather than the underlying point.
I understand what you're saying, I just think you have to be careful not to get people's backs up straight away and put people off a record they could potentially enjoy.
i know i shouldn't
but i find bits of this record really funny.
Chrissfa:
No worries. I'm a bit upset about the news about Plan B.
I know what you mean and I'm firmly against any kind of elitism in music or music criticism but I also hate the idea that someone reading this might go and blow £30 on the vinyl and go 'What the fuck? This is just noise!'
I hope loads of people get into this record - that's my genuine wish.
The art/music argument is by the by. It's almost certainly an argument over taxonomy, which I don't want to get involved in. All I mean is: I see great worth in it.
i wasn't discrediting the fact that music is an art form
but there are ways of talking about music which can lead me to become irritated with how high and mighty some music is built up to be because of the affiliation with art.
i think the fact that Sunn O))) straddle the line between being considered overtly pretentious and arty to the point of nausea and actually pedaling something genuinely moving and unique makes the music/art argument a bit transparent in this case.
the fact is, to me Sunn O))) translate no more notions of art and revelry than the new Twang album, but the fact that i feel much more comfortable listening to Sunn O))) as a result of the talent and ingenuity creating the "art", i can see that my first point was a bit opaque.
still, the new album is fucking sublime. a lot more dramatic than their other work
best review in ages
"If you ever, genuinely, wanted to be drowned in sound a SunnO))) gig would do it."
"While it must be galling to slavishly follow left-field music for years just to witness a great leap forward occur in heavy metal with all the conservative, anti-modernist implications that are associated with this genre"
FAO: DiSassociated - I had to step outside to leave off a full body cringe at that comment.
the only thing better than seeing sunn0))) live is..
seeing people try to explain to their friends what it was like using the gift of mime (Roskilde....when they played people were sort of going ' NNNNNEEUURGHHHHHHHH" and then hitting one long down note on an air guitar...) Theres some great stuff on this hear record
The kids who pop
Well, I kind of agree. I'm certainly not interested in using the art/just music distinction in reviews and to the best of my knowledge I never have done.
The Twang are more 'arty' than they realise. All that reverb on a semi acoustic Les Paul makes them sound a bit like a 4AD band circa Dead Can Dance.
"Music that sounds good on the radio, music that matches your trousers, music that you associate with a computer game. Not for me."
It's not for me either. I didn't say I disliked it.
I'm just suprised that this is the first 10/10 I've seen for a while, it was as simple as that.
im not criticising the way you did the review
i wa smerely saying that i feel that their music trancends the arty aspects of any semi acoustic les paul.
over all i thought the review was super and really captured the strength of the album.
i dont particularly enjoy getting into arguments on these forums so im sorry if i came across all twattish.
I've already made my views known at length on the boards
This is 8/10 good IMO. It just seems that the buzz around the band has increased exponentially since their last album and whatever they put out was going to be met with massive Sunn O)))-esque slabs of hyperbole.
It's not really the massive departure for the band that it's claimed to be (with the exception of Alice and the bit with the ladies choir). Although I'm enjoying it I think I prefer the white albums and Altar.
What's wrong with their name!
They are named after Amps!
I'm not really interested in sound art to be honest
What I am interested in is why music is held in less regard than painting, say. I've just finished reading 'Fear Of Music: Why People Get Rothko But They Don't Get Stockhausen' by David Stubbs and am thinking about the subject a lot.
'Sound art' (as opposed to be music which is art) I guess, takes place in an art gallery or is designated as such by a self-appointed artist.
Whether stuff is art or not is a redundant question. Anything you or I say is art, is art. The question should be whether stuff is good art or not.
Nicely put John Doran
A robust defence of your review, fans of Sunn O))) clearly appreciate this glowing dissection you've given the world. You also appear to have offended some who wish to police your apparant misuse of arbitrary numbers.
weird review
the writer seems desperate to anticipate criticism of the band and imply that people who don't like the album are borderline retarded, which comes off as kind of pathetic.
I do want to hear this though.
'Desperate'?
Also, what's wrong with anticipating criticism? An album like this is certainly going attract a lot.
ok maybe 'keen' would be a better word
I just don't think you need to be apologetic about liking something!
Glad to have made an impression
Cheers.
Wow, aren't we all just getting a little bit pretentious?
I think this kind of music breeds a sense of superiority it some, specifically the reviewer:
'Hey man, you don't understand ART'.
And @lukowski, why can't others review this lp? Are they not ART enough?
Ridiculous. This is about one persons opinion on music, not who can do a release 'justice'.
This is not the DiS I know and love...
It's a review - it serves a purpose for anyone wanting to buy it...
...in theory, whether or not you agree with that model or not. You'd want and expect somebody who knows, at least mostly, what they're talking about to review the record...and because a review is one person's opinion that's why you need all of that.
Not a huge fan of Sunn...
but interested to hear due to the involvement of Kang and Kennedy.
Good review. This statement grabbed me in particular:
"very few people other than an uneasy alliance of fans of the avant garde and extreme metal bought their albums."
This is absolutely correct, and I was just having a conversation with a friend about this last week. Bands like Sunn, Earth etc, that belong, or least started, in a particular sub-genre like metal, but either slowly moved away from it(like Earth), or existed at the margins of its increasingly amorphous boundry(like Sunn), are usually ignored by 'serious' music fans. They are neither avantgarde enough for the snobs, or accessible enough for the 'ordinary' genre fan. It's a veritable no man's land. I'd say it also applies to artists like Kang too, albeit to a lesser extent(a friend of mine refers to Kang as a 'generic minimalist' who is barely on the level of a soundtrack composer). Artists with a 'basis' in serious music that dabble in popular forms.
Admirably these artists try to navigate this difficult terrain without appearing completely snobby, in the vain hope that their music will 'catch on', but i'm not convinced it's possible to be 'arty' and 'accessible' in these ADD times without either 1)compromising, and finding a neutered middle ground between the two(like directors such as Van Sant have done; sorry, can't think of a musical equivalent right now), or 2)appearing snobby.
The 2nd consideration is important for one simple reason: effort. Or more specifically, on the listener end, why should they put more effort into something when the rewards are slim, and ultimately inconsequential, because 'art' is simply a matter of taste? If art is nothing but taste, and objective standards non-existant, no matter how loose or tenuous, then why exert myself?? If no deeper truths are there, waiting to be revealed, then i may as well listen Madonna.
What i'm trying to say, in a somewhat confused manner, is that artists like Sunn are damned either way. They can't win, no matter how they approach it.
Anyway, nice work.
))))
I do like the review, but then again I do think there's a distinct fanboy element to it; which in itself does lead you open to criticism.
This whole music v art debate is ridiculous. Music is an artform, I simply can't see how it isn't as it's created from the personal perspective and interpreted by the listener however they see fit evoking all kinds of expression and emotion in a similar way art using the mediums of paint/installation/textiles etc do.
Sunn O))) meanwhile are a fascinating (albeit better live than on record) band but like many bands that lead their field or ones that are seen to have created a new artform do tend to be overly fawned over and lead the way in obsessives that build them up to be something they're clearly not.
Great Review
Thanks for the review - getting very excited about the new CD (in the mail at the moment).
To those who say Music isn't art, sorry, but it is. All aesthetic expressions are art, from Rembrandt to the Wiggles. Anyone who says Music isn't art is trying desperately hard to be a Ramone.
In Sunn0)))'s case, what impresses me the most about them is rather than exploring the usual rock n roll expressions (Rhythm, Melody, Lyrics), they rely on extremes in tone and variations in timbre to create mood. I find it exciting and at the same time, strangely relaxing to listen to, even Black One. It will be interesting to see how they go with additional instruments as this seems to be the next step to take in their musical journey.
hmm...
This is truly a well thought-out review. I'm not doing to go off on one here but, very quickly, here's my two cents:
You can most certainly review a band/artist that you are a 'fan' of, whatever that word means anymore. If you take this on however, you absolutely have to be even-handed. In this case, I think we're on the side of obsequiousness, which is a shame because the gent that wrote it is clearly a decent word-smith and someone in command of their generic knowledge, which is pretty important!!
I guess my point is that, from a neutral perspective ('cause I'd never heard of 'em and didn't/don't give a fuck), the record may well be worthy of a ten but because of negative phrasing used within it's confines, we, the people, will inevitably go "naaaaaaahhhh", or worse, "fuck you!!, I ain't buying it". Compare this downtreading to Sean's review of the Phoenix record, which generated the same score, and you'll hopefully see what I mean. I came outta that review positively salivating for the record, even though it doesn't remotely sit in my normal sphere of musicality (unlike Sunn0))))). I came out of this one, ambivalent about the band and unsure of the writer's neutrality.
It's not quite a maxim, because it doesn't apply all the time but it's my estimation that a well-crafted review shouldn't let the pre-judged opinion of the author shine on through; the music and account of it there-in should be enough to carry it.
Fair point?
My first comment! Yay!
"Music isn't art.
Anyone who thinks that is a bit silly."
Do you want to expand on that? If you mean music isn't (visual) art, I would have thought that was obvious. If you mean it's not an artform, you're a moron.
"Wow, aren't we all just getting a little bit pretentious?"
God forbid. How's this? - it's probably not that great to drive to.
I thought it was a pretty good review, for what it's worth. I don't see anything wrong with reading someone that loves something explain why they love it, particularly if it's informed and decently written.
I've listened to the Sunn record a couple of times now and it's growing on me. Black 1 was a little bit like being strangled. This manages to feel both oppressive and liberating at the same time, which is a neat trick to pull off.
A Sincere Suggestion
I really REALLY don't give a fuck who likes or hates this. I am satisfied with my experience listening to this record. It is whole and doesn't require validation from others. I saw GOD. If you play it loud enough, you may be lucky enough to see it too, to your own bewilderment.
Twice As Fantastic
and just as appropriately titled as their last studio full length.
10/10? Why yes!
All image no talent
There's no compositional talent or musicianship on this album at all. The long notes and excessive pausing between words are overused to the point of being pretentious. It sounds like someone who never learned to play an instrument got high on Ether. The universal critical acclaim can only be explained by triumph of image and novelty over substance. My image of people who like this begins and ends with "Did you hear that one note?! And those dramatic pauses! No one gets us!"
^ This
Is this record a joke? I mean seriously.
Not fair.
I tried to listen to this but I think my speakers are fucked. All I'm hearing is this constant droning. I'll have to get some new ones, because I really can't wait to hear this 10/10 album, that will surely be a triumph of art and music and will change my life, and I'm sure won't actually just be a bunch of pretentious wankers overusing effect pedals to the point of hilarity.
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