Artist: Sunn O)))
Album: Monoliths & Dimensions
Year: 2009
Grade: 3 pretzels
There’s no point denying that being a loyal Pitchfork reader has introduced me to plenty of music that I would have otherwise ignored. Just this year, albums by Dirty Projectors and St. Vincent were two pleasant surprises that I would have probably not listened to had Pitchfork not pointed them out to me with glowing reviews. After reading the site regularly for the past few years, I’ve grown to believe that if they lavish praise on an album, it’s probably for a reason. Rare is the Best New Music honoree that doesn’t have at least something I like about it. However, Sunn O)))’s Monoliths & Dimensions, a terrifying slab of seething black intensity, has proven a challenge for me.
I knew a few snippets of information about the band before listening to this album. I knew they were part of a genre known as “drone metal.” I knew they had a reputation for playing incredibly loud live shows. And I knew they wore really silly black robes on stage. I figured they were just another doom-y metal band, full of shredding and death wails and shit like that. Oh boy, was I wrong. So wrong. The mind boggles at how wrong I was. The following is a visual representation of what I heard when I clicked “play” on the first track of Monoliths & Dimensions:
“CLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG…”
(For those of you who can’t visualize music, here’s an audio clip.)
People weren’t kidding when they described this band as “drone metal.” The majority of the music on the album consists of humongous clusters of notes, played on deeply down-tuned guitars and held for minutes at a time. This is very, very, slower-than-molasses slow music. But don’t think for a minute that Sunn O))) are boring. Those long droning notes are loud as hell and full of so much sludge and distortion, you can almost literally feel your eardrums vibrating. This is not music for the faint of heart.
Once you get past this monolithic wall of noise, Sunn O))) begin introducing the crazier parts of their music. That’s right, crazier. What is crazier than gargantuan piles of pure sonic force, you ask? Well, how about a guy chanting in Hungarian? How about a full choir screaming in the background? How about an orchestra quietly approximating Stravinsky in the corner, sandwiched neatly between guitars number eighteen through twenty-three? Monoliths & Dimensions is full of moments like these, where you realize just what a gigantic scope Sunn O))) are working with. In any other band, all these subtle details (yes, subtle, because even an orchestra seems small compared to these guitars) would seem as pretentious and self-indulgent as is humanly possible. However, this album is so dedicated to being huge that the symphonies and Hungarians somehow sound right at home.
Now…here’s the real question: do I like this album? Honestly, I’m not sure. I do like my music intense and heavy at times, but this is just ridiculous. However, at the same time, I can’t help but be impressed by the seismic hugeness of it all, plus the fact that I’ve never, ever in my life heard music that sounds like this. The only things that come close are some of the work by German industrial rock band/noise terrorists Einstürzende Neubauten and Scott Walker’s rewriting-what-music-can-be opus, The Drift. I like both of those pieces of music. So, logically, I should like Sunn O)))’s Monoliths & Dimensions. However, things aren’t that simple and as I write this, the crazy Hungarian is starting to chant again. So, my opinions on this album are going to be aimed squarely down the middle. This music is too forceful to allow me to have more detailed opinions.
I knew a few snippets of information about the band before listening to this album. I knew they were part of a genre known as “drone metal.” I knew they had a reputation for playing incredibly loud live shows. And I knew they wore really silly black robes on stage. I figured they were just another doom-y metal band, full of shredding and death wails and shit like that. Oh boy, was I wrong. So wrong. The mind boggles at how wrong I was. The following is a visual representation of what I heard when I clicked “play” on the first track of Monoliths & Dimensions:
“CLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG…”
(For those of you who can’t visualize music, here’s an audio clip.)
People weren’t kidding when they described this band as “drone metal.” The majority of the music on the album consists of humongous clusters of notes, played on deeply down-tuned guitars and held for minutes at a time. This is very, very, slower-than-molasses slow music. But don’t think for a minute that Sunn O))) are boring. Those long droning notes are loud as hell and full of so much sludge and distortion, you can almost literally feel your eardrums vibrating. This is not music for the faint of heart.
Once you get past this monolithic wall of noise, Sunn O))) begin introducing the crazier parts of their music. That’s right, crazier. What is crazier than gargantuan piles of pure sonic force, you ask? Well, how about a guy chanting in Hungarian? How about a full choir screaming in the background? How about an orchestra quietly approximating Stravinsky in the corner, sandwiched neatly between guitars number eighteen through twenty-three? Monoliths & Dimensions is full of moments like these, where you realize just what a gigantic scope Sunn O))) are working with. In any other band, all these subtle details (yes, subtle, because even an orchestra seems small compared to these guitars) would seem as pretentious and self-indulgent as is humanly possible. However, this album is so dedicated to being huge that the symphonies and Hungarians somehow sound right at home.
Now…here’s the real question: do I like this album? Honestly, I’m not sure. I do like my music intense and heavy at times, but this is just ridiculous. However, at the same time, I can’t help but be impressed by the seismic hugeness of it all, plus the fact that I’ve never, ever in my life heard music that sounds like this. The only things that come close are some of the work by German industrial rock band/noise terrorists Einstürzende Neubauten and Scott Walker’s rewriting-what-music-can-be opus, The Drift. I like both of those pieces of music. So, logically, I should like Sunn O)))’s Monoliths & Dimensions. However, things aren’t that simple and as I write this, the crazy Hungarian is starting to chant again. So, my opinions on this album are going to be aimed squarely down the middle. This music is too forceful to allow me to have more detailed opinions.
I must say with the exception of the hungarians this is pretty standard doom metal. My buddy took me to a show and there were 3 bands in a row that sounded just about identical to these guys. Not that its bad, its just not so unique.
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