Last Night I Saw Sunn O))) Last Night; I Have No Idea What I Saw Last Night
posted by on November 3 at 10:30 AM
I’ll have to tell you about the rest of the show (Jesu specifically) later because right now, whenever I try to think about last night’s Neumo’s show, all I can hear is a wall of monotonous droning. All I can feel is a veil of dark evil trying to penetrate my body through every single pore.
I don’t know where to start.
To set up, roadies brought out a thin, mossy stump and stood it at center stage. They covered the monitors in deep red velvet. They hooked up fog machines that shot thick blasts of white straight into the air. They switched on the foreboding wall of speaker cabinets that went from one end of the stage to the other, and they plugged in pedals—lots and lots of pedals. At least 40, if I had to guess.
All I could think was “This is how one might prepare for a sacrifice.”
The band appeared—members of Mayhem, Brotherhood, and Godflesh all on the same stage. Once they started, they never stopped. For an hour, Sunn liquefied my insides. It was the soundtrack to evil. There were no words, so far as I could tell, only drawn out notes from the singer. The upright bass was lower than any bass I’ve heard before. The guitars didn’t sound like guitars. I felt like my brain was trickling out my ears and I never before regretted not having ear plugs as much as I did last night. It was loud, it was weird, it was drowning me.
When I left, I felt like I had an abortion and I wasn’t even pregnant.
I’ve never seen anything like it and I’ve never heard anything like it; I never want to again.
I thought it was splendid.
genius.
Sunn are one of the few refreshing breaths of fresh air in the metal scene now a a days. With metal going through the backwards fart joke period of the late 90's and then the screamo/fake hardcore surge of the last few years, it's really awesome to see some hard working, innovate artists putting together something that is so abstract, but at the same time so emotional and powerful.
Sunn are basically a tribute to the early workings of the band Earth (No, not the hippy psycadelic acidfest that would later become Black Sabbath, but rather the creators of the Southern Lord record label). Since their inception they've taken their influences and spawned a whole new genre of music.
The timing of this show was perfect as well, because you won't find more amazing, creepy Halloween ambiance music than the Sunn o))).
Doom/Drone has a tiny cult following and I really hope it stays that way. The last thing I want to see is a legion of 14 year old girls with braces going into Hot Topic to get their newest Southern Lord swag. Blah.
Your art editor, Aaron Edge's band Iamthethron borrows a lot from this genre of music and I must honestly say that they do an awesome job.
Take the aural abortion and embrace it. It's the wave of the future!
this is first time you have mentioned a good band ever, writer. please stick to your obsession with young men in crappy melodicore bands and leave pure music out. stick with that and leave drone out of it. we dont want or need the stranger reporting it.
@4 Cancel the underground!
@4
Unless you have dissociative identity disorder and believe you constitute Sunn's entire following, don't use words like "we". Believe it or not, there are other drone fans who aren't as narrow-minded as you.
Aren't Sunn0)))))) just that one Spinal Tap sketch for "Stonehenge" basically? So they're loud like a gazillion other bands. The idea of them being any form of progression of metal is just insulting.
They have good records, as does Earth, and a lot of other stuff on Southern Lord is nice as well (Boris). But enough with this "progression of metal" nonsense. They're droney with metal-like timbres and they're good at that, and just leave it at that.
the "brown" sound!
Speaking of brown, the real-deal OBS (original "brown" sound) will be on stage at the Paramount Theater on November 13th (I speak of WEEN). Keep up with a bit of the browness via their killer guitarist's new journal/blog/virtual-meetup space:
http://brownietroop.ning.com
Yada yada yada,
James K.
Thank god someone around here understands what the true meaning of "brown" is.
I think we should not let bands like this play Seattle or maybe not play such a high profile venues. To disturbing and abstract. I don't wanna think about music.I wanna have fun! I wanna have it make me look cool or make me part of the scene.
Megan - I was standing right next to you and Dan, the only difference is I was smart enough to wear earplugs. I've seen them twice this year now, and both are going to rank among the best shows I saw all year.
Jesu are another favourite band of mine, and while I understand why some people find them boring (especially live), they've also mesmerized me both times I've seen them.
What a great show. If only Wolves in the Throne Room would have opened this time as well.
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