I’ll be the first to admit I’ve never been a drone fan and despite being seven albums into their career the apparent pinnacle of the genre, this is my first exposure to the duo of Greg Anderson and Stephen O’ Malley.
However, what intrigued me about this release and prompted me to check Sunn O))) out for the first time was reading that this release included a plethora of guest musicians which have introduced some new elements to Sunn O)))’s sound. Composer and violinist Eyvind Kang contributes a number of string and choral arrangements, Attila Csihar provides some haunting whispers and spoken words guitar virtuoso and Oren Ambarchi as well as Earths’ Dylan Carlson, trombone legend Julian Priester and horn player Stuart Dempster contribute in conjunction with the addition of French horns, harps, flutes, a piano and a Viennese choir led by Jessika Kenney.
The end result? Nothing less than a brilliant, pure, sensory and musical experience.
I can’t obviously compare Monoliths & Dimensions to the band’s previous six works, but I’ve been told that they are more pure drone compared to this far more adventurous and bold exercise in tectonic shifting experimentation and hypnotic, droning beauty.
Starting with the 17 and ½ minute “Agartha” which is a four note, droning exercise in cavernous, down tuned lethargy layered with discordant orchestration and Csihar’s twisted chanting, the album simply commands your attention as it drags you into a drone filled stupor littered with avant-garde, experimentation, which elevates the drone into more powerful, transcendental, dare I say artistic realms. However, the next track, and personal favorite “Big Church” scatters the mountainous riffs with truly amazing female choirs and more of Csihar’s crazed whispers and chanting. It’s more like an aural ritual than a song. Unfortunately, at a shade under 10 minutes, it’s the albums shortest track. The horns and choirs that appear about two minutes and a ½ into “Hunting & Gathering (Cydonia)” take the monolithic droning into regal and epic territory unlike anything you’ve heard and then there’s the vast instrumental “Alice” which initially seems almost barren and desolate compared to the prior three tracks. However, around 7 minutes in, the horns and strings kick in, making the chord progression and shimmering, trombone flocked climax sound triumphant, beautiful and radiant. Just gorgeous.
It should also be noted that I had both the CD and 2 disc vinyl versions of this record, and listening to the vinyl version (the first vinyl I have listened to in over a decade), truly made me appreciate the natural, organic hues that gloss the knee wilting heaviness and how this record was meant to be truly experienced.
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Another glowing review for this record? Come on, this is the most boring record released this year. Black One was pretty cool, but…don’t give into the hype, you are smarter than this Mr. Thomas.
on Jul 6th, 2009 at 14:45I have not heard any other releases by this band, but Im stand by the fact this release blew me away.
on Jul 6th, 2009 at 15:57I agree with Erik…this album is amazing. I know the band’s back catalog well and it dwarfs the other albums in Sunn O)))’s history, including Black One. There are frequent occasions when critics seem to jump on a release and hype the shit out of it for no reason. This is one of the occasions where the praise and accolades are completely deserved.
Even if you aren’t a big fan of the albums, you should check the band out live…it’s quite an experience.
on Jul 6th, 2009 at 16:19..too each his own I suppose – keep up the good work anyways!
on Jul 6th, 2009 at 19:44I love Atilla but to me his vocals ruined this record. They seemed to be on there just for the sake of being on there. His singing just doesn’t fit at all to me. Some of the repetitions seemed forced too. It doesn’t repeat to add to the droning depth, it just repeats like you restarted the song. It’s as if they had 4 minutes of ideas then just repeated the same thing 3 times over. I loved Black1 but this record just seems like they tried to do too much just for the sake of doing it.
on Jul 6th, 2009 at 20:32He does sometimes sound like the second coming of Bela Lugosi.
on Jul 6th, 2009 at 22:40I really prefer “Pentemple”
on Jul 13th, 2009 at 14:20i liked the new album, but… i still go back to PENTEMPLE i hope i get the chance to see them live
on Jul 6th, 2010 at 11:33Sunn O))) are brilliant and Attila Csihar is a God. I love these guys.
on Aug 19th, 2010 at 22:20