Sunn O))) – Black One
Southern Lord Recordings – sunn50 – October 18th, 2005
By Jason Jordan
I’ve had this promo for two months, yet I’m just now getting around to reviewing it. Why? For starters, Black One must be listened to via headphones at least a few times. It’s just common sense. My cats prevented me from being able to do that, though, because they chewed through my headphones cord rendering them unusable. Thankfully, I picked up a new set and have been cranking the latest from Sunn O))) ever since. Rivaling P.H.O.B.O.S.’s Tectonics as the creepiest, most unnerving release of 2005, the presence of Black One is utterly commanding.
I sort of agree with my esteemed colleague’s – Nate The Great – description of this dark platter from Sunn O))): “It’s like the ambient parts of Blut Aus Nord…Sunnified. Not only are Anderson (Goatsnake) and O’ Malley (Khanate) on board, but also an unholy horde of USBM musicians, namely Wrest (Leviathan, Lurker of Chalice, Twilight) and Malefic (Xasthur, Twilight), along with a few other choice contributors. Now, the drone within proves to be first-rate in most, if not all, respects. After the frightening introduction – “Sin Nanna” – “It Took the Night to Believe” rails against the listener with distinguishable guitar, bass, and writhing growls. “Cursed Realms (of the Winterdemons)” – an Immortal cover – is even more haunting when compared with its adversaries while the beastlike effects stalk their prey, which happens to be you and I. “Orthodox Caveman” is drone layered with heavy bass lines, and is then punctuated by dissonant instrumentation near the end of its lifespan. “CandleGoat” utilizes BM influence once again, though “Cry for the Weeper” is quick to assert its distorted presence shortly afterwards. “Bathory Erzsebet” is infamous for the methods in which Sunn O))) used to record Malefic’s screams. Remember? A casket was loaded into the back of a hearse to both capture and personify claustrophobic terror. The songs on Black One, perhaps for the best, range anywhere from two to sixteen minutes. Whereas a couple numbers never stray from the six to eight-minute mark, a couple others fall under the ten-minute banner, and still a couple others venture forth into fifteen-minute territory. So on the whole, the increments of Black One are much easier to swallow this time around.
When I immersed myself in the latest from Sunn O))), I kept envisioning being locked in a padded, near-dark room lined with subwoofers blasting intense, distortion-saturated bass, while flailing about in a straitjacket, always keeping an eye on the manic-depressive, feline-looking predator in the corner. Black One – as if you couldn’t tell – is quite a piece of work, and one (no pun intended) that fans should be anxious to devour. I suggest picking up Twilight’s Twilight as a supplement, but this is more threatening in every way.
O)))/10
Official Sunn O))) Website
Official Southern Lord Recordings Website
Southern Lord Recordings – sunn50 – October 18th, 2005
By Jason Jordan
I’ve had this promo for two months, yet I’m just now getting around to reviewing it. Why? For starters, Black One must be listened to via headphones at least a few times. It’s just common sense. My cats prevented me from being able to do that, though, because they chewed through my headphones cord rendering them unusable. Thankfully, I picked up a new set and have been cranking the latest from Sunn O))) ever since. Rivaling P.H.O.B.O.S.’s Tectonics as the creepiest, most unnerving release of 2005, the presence of Black One is utterly commanding.
I sort of agree with my esteemed colleague’s – Nate The Great – description of this dark platter from Sunn O))): “It’s like the ambient parts of Blut Aus Nord…Sunnified. Not only are Anderson (Goatsnake) and O’ Malley (Khanate) on board, but also an unholy horde of USBM musicians, namely Wrest (Leviathan, Lurker of Chalice, Twilight) and Malefic (Xasthur, Twilight), along with a few other choice contributors. Now, the drone within proves to be first-rate in most, if not all, respects. After the frightening introduction – “Sin Nanna” – “It Took the Night to Believe” rails against the listener with distinguishable guitar, bass, and writhing growls. “Cursed Realms (of the Winterdemons)” – an Immortal cover – is even more haunting when compared with its adversaries while the beastlike effects stalk their prey, which happens to be you and I. “Orthodox Caveman” is drone layered with heavy bass lines, and is then punctuated by dissonant instrumentation near the end of its lifespan. “CandleGoat” utilizes BM influence once again, though “Cry for the Weeper” is quick to assert its distorted presence shortly afterwards. “Bathory Erzsebet” is infamous for the methods in which Sunn O))) used to record Malefic’s screams. Remember? A casket was loaded into the back of a hearse to both capture and personify claustrophobic terror. The songs on Black One, perhaps for the best, range anywhere from two to sixteen minutes. Whereas a couple numbers never stray from the six to eight-minute mark, a couple others fall under the ten-minute banner, and still a couple others venture forth into fifteen-minute territory. So on the whole, the increments of Black One are much easier to swallow this time around.
When I immersed myself in the latest from Sunn O))), I kept envisioning being locked in a padded, near-dark room lined with subwoofers blasting intense, distortion-saturated bass, while flailing about in a straitjacket, always keeping an eye on the manic-depressive, feline-looking predator in the corner. Black One – as if you couldn’t tell – is quite a piece of work, and one (no pun intended) that fans should be anxious to devour. I suggest picking up Twilight’s Twilight as a supplement, but this is more threatening in every way.
O)))/10
Official Sunn O))) Website
Official Southern Lord Recordings Website
