Sunn O))) – Life Metal 2LP (Ltd Translucent Green Vinyl)

Description

A new album bySunn 0)))is an event. Their plodding, downtuned, droning, overamped electric guitars and striking, spine-rattling frequencies are an all-encompassing encounter — there is no middle ground: you love them or hate them. Even when working with collaborators, their basic sonic attack has been appended more than extended. But enlistingSteve Albinias producer onLife Metalchanges the equation.Albini’s microphone placement strategies, precision in detailing resistant overtones from overblown frequencies, and ability to push volume levels through the central nervous system, are the stuff of rock legend. He pushesGreg AndersonandStephen O’Malleyinto an eternal riff zone that wrestles light from impenetrable darkness to celebrate the void.

Sunn 0)))’s aesthetic remains unchanged, even as their sound takes on new dimensions. The pair conceived the album inAnderson’s L.A. studio, where they utilized synth innovatorTos Nieuwenhuizenin writing rehearsals before heading toAlbini’s Electrical Audio in Chicago. The four long works here account for half of this union’s output: A second, more meditative album entitled Pyroclasts will be released later in the year.Sunn 0)))are joined onLife Metalby composer and frequent live collaboratorHildur Gunadttiron vocals and electric cello,Silkworm’sTim Midyetton aluminum-neck bass and baritone guitars, andAnthony Paterason pipe organ. Album-opener “Between Sleipnir’s Breaths” commences with the aggressive snort and gallop of a horse — Odin’s eight-legged steed. The riff, twinned then quadrupled in ever-rising octaves, is at once punishing and transcendent. Feedback, bass, and brass sounds shudder, plod, and prod with rippling energy and menacing force beforeGunadttir’s vulnerable vocal chants and speaks lyrics derived from Aztec poets. They contrast ice and fire, death and eternity. The pipe organ helps usher in “Troubled Air,” adding another textural element to the fluid, droning riff that is all but overcome by sustain and feedback, moving back and forth across glacial chord changes. While the guitars do their best to temper the storm, the organ bleats and rings, opening a dimension that affirms even as it afflicts. The 19-minute “Aurora” is introduced byGunadttir’s wordless alto singing, and covered over by the glacial riffs that claim everything in their path (the mix is so clear, you can hearAnderson’s andO’Malley’s fingers on the strings), creating an arresting yet nearly unbearable beauty. Finally, on the 25-minute “Novae,” staggered drone riffs roar through, churning and roiling in the blackness with a constant, unrelenting pace. Layers of unidentifiable sonics, double-step overtones, octave drones, pockets of feedback, sustain and tension, create a cavern for the riffs and envelop the listener; who’s transported through airless waves of sound that gradually transform into blinding shards of blackened light, and are caressed by a low, droning cello that echoes long after the recording has concluded.Life Metalis the dawning of a new phase forSunn 0))), one that resonates with more power and complexity than anything in their catalog. -All Music Guide

Life Metal by SUNN O)))