| CD REVIEW Sunn O))) |
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Band: Sunn O))) Doom-masterminds Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson are working together for many years, not only within the über-Drone project Sunn O))), yet also within, for example, Pentemple, which was a live-project with Attila Csihar (think legendary Mayhem, ex-Aborym, Korog, legendary Tormentor, Plasma Pool, and so on, and so on, and so on), Oren Ambarchi and Sin Nanna (Striborg), Teeth Of Lions Rule The Divine, Burning Witch and Thorr’s Hammer. Greg is the owner of Southern Lord too, and works / worked with other projects like Ascend, Burial Chamber Trio (also with Attila Csihar as well as Oren Ambarchi), Goatsnake (one of the best Stoner bands! – including Burning Witch-colleague Stuart Dahlqvist (also in Asva), The Obsessed’s Greg Rogers and former Acid King / The Obsessed-member Guy Pinhas), Engine Kid or Lunatics On Parole; Stephen is also known from his involvement with bands and projects as Lotus Eaters (with Aaron Turner, of Old Man Gloom- and Isis-fame and owner of the label Hydra Head, as well as band-colleague on House Of Low Culture), Fungal Hex (rip), Sarin, Mars, Grave Temple (with both Oren Ambarchi and Attila Csihar again), Ginnungagap, Aethenor, Khanate (lovely tunes this band makes, isn’t it? – with OLD-members Alan Dubin and James Plotkin, the latter also involved with Scorn, Atomsmasher or Regurgitate), KTL or House Of Low Culture (with members of e.g. Isis, Agoraphobic Nosebleed and Old Man Gloom). Nice, nice, nice… Throughout the years, Sunn O))) did release several love-it-or-hate-it albums, and I do have to admit that I am not that crazy about the early years either. The monotonous Drone recordings were indeed much too monotonous. Yet each album did have some stronger parts, and the totality, of course, is very unique, even within this specific genre. As from Black One (2005) I am completely ‘into’ this totality, maybe (probably) because of its ultra-obscure approach, but the recruitment of Attila C. was a splendid choice too, of course! Anyway, the duo did record this new full length again with guest/ session assistance of, indeed, Attila and Oren A. Thank you guys for doing so!!! The production and engineering were taken care of by Mell Dettmer, who did the mastering too, and Randall Dunn, the duo that also did, for example, the Sunn O))) project-album with Boris, or who are known for their assistance to Earth. Opening, euh, song, let’s call it, “Aghartha” (17:34) is a typical Sunn O))) hymn, with thunderous riffs and a freezing industrialised atmosphere, slower than slow, and with spoken words by Mister Csihar. “Big Church [megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért]” (what’s in a name) is the shortest track on Monoliths & Dimensions with its duration of 09:43, and it features guest strings by Earth’s Dylan Carlson (not for the first time – he did work with some of these guys on Asva before). This song also includes a female choir (among whom Jessika Kenney, who did work with related projects as Asva and Wolves In The Throne Room!), which gives the whole an extremely oppressing, grim touch of abyssal psychosis; and these sinister, uncomfortable spheres are sickening the third title, “Hunting & Gathering (Cydonia)” (10:02) too, mainly done by the darkened orchestrations and the male choir (with e.g. Joe Preston - you might know him from Earth (ex), Melvins (ex), Thrones (rip), These Arms Are Snakes, High On Fire (session), the split with Boris, etc). Final track, “Alice” (16:21), is an instrumental Industrial/ Ambient piece with addition of unusual instruments, such as oboe, harp, viola, horn or trombone. It perfectly ends the cycle on Monoliths & Dimensions. And therefore I can conclude: I’m speechless! Words cannot describe the emotions I underwent, emotions cannot describe the feelings I try to ignore, even after a one thousandth try-out! 95/100 Ivan Tibos. |