Black One does exactly what is expected from
a Sunn O))) record, it drones and feedbacks like a reliable fiend. While it’s nothing groundbreaking in
terms of an evolution of their sound, it does provide some subtle new twists on their trademarked
detuned riffing.
Album number six
from Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson and all is not well. Of course that's expected from
Sunn O))): an intense feeling of being unwell. Black One
manages to sound blacker and more disturbing than Sunn O)))’s previous
work—like they distilled the anti-soul of Burzum down to its darkest
and then tuned the results down a couple of octaves. The guitars are
more in the background on this album,as the majority of the action is
happening with the layers and layers of electronic noise and noisy
vocals.
“Cursed Realms (of the Winterdemons)” features one of the many (very
underground) guest collaborators Wrest on vocals and it sounds like
dredging up a body from a murky river, amplified properly.
Southern Lord label mate Malefic provides vocals on “Bathory Erzsebet”
from within a sealed casket in a hearse. The entire song is so drenched
in dread that I nearly forgot that it’s only a piece of music. What I
liked most about this track, apart from the intense atmosphere, was
that they completely steer clear of the traditional Sunn O))) guitar
drones for the first seven minutes of the song. When the guitars do
finally kick in it’s breathtaking. especially for Malefic as his
gasping is clearly audible and the closeness of his vocals is of
something beyond the grave. It is an incredibly arresting piece.
While I was afraid for a while that Sunn O))) were becoming very stuck in a rut, they have managed to break out a bit on this album. They have shaken off their Earth tribute band status with the addition of more instruments and varied vocals and being far heavier than Earth ever were. This is a mighty step in a good direction and this will, no doubt, be the soundtrack to a doomy doomy Hallowe’en for me.
samples:
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