SUNN O)))
Sunn O))) (Sub Pop)
Sunn O))) are now 10 albums in, answering the question of how many different combinations of sound can be made by two men with guitars and an amplifier setup that goes to 11. The core of the band has always been under the direction of Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson, typically with a list of collaborators; this album is a departure, as all instrumentation, arrangement and writing is credited to the duo solely.
While the album treads familiar territory, there is a sense of space and room for dynamics, which the studio setting of the forests of the Pacific Northwest no doubt influenced – field recordings of running water bring the sound of their surroundings into the studio. XXANN opens with the familiar hum of feedback, while Glory Black closes out the album with a gradual reduction in volume and a tinkering piano filling the void left by the droning guitars.
words GARETH MOULE
