Megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért

Album: Monoliths & Dimensions

Artist: Sunn O)))

Genre: Drone Metal

Year: 2009

Label: Southern Lord

Let me preface this review by explaining that if you do not have a really powerful sound system or state-of-the-art headphones, you shouldn’t be listening to this. Also, if you’ve got a fear of loud music, stop reading because it’s a pre-requisite of Sunn O))) that you listen to them at excruciating volume so that you can feel the music. I’ll say that part again to drive it home: “Feel” not just “hear.” Because part of the fun of Sunn O))) is the full body massage that goes along with their music. To most people, Sunn O))) is going to just sound like really drawn out noise dirges and while some of their material does fit that description, this album, Monoliths & Dimensions, is one of the most beautiful and rewarding heavy albums I’ve heard in a long time.

Sunn O))) is primarily a duo: two guitarists, Stephen O’Malley (also of Khanate & Burning Witch) and Greg Anderson (of Goatsnake) accompanied by a wall of Sunn brand amplifiers. Together, these two men are responsible for re-defining the power of the word Drone. Because the music of Sunn O))) is the best Drone Metal since Earth’s early albums. Sunn O))) in fact, initially began as an Earth tribute band and has since expanded to become the world’s foremost Drone Metal act. The genre tag of “Metal” brings up certain connotations of head-banging and rock-on hand signs that really makes the word misleading in describing Sunn O)))’s music. There are no flying V guitar solos, no death growls, no drums, no vocals or percussion of any kind. Just two guitars and a wall of amps all turned to 11… maybe 12.

That’s how it was for a while before the two guitarists began to collaborate with other artists. And that’s where my interest was piqued. Of the three Sunn O))) albums I own, Monoliths & Dimensions is the best, heaviest, darkest, and has the most interesting collaborators (Black One was a close second.) I’ll be the first to admit, the first time I heard this band I was completely confused. “Why on earth would someone sit around listening to feedback variations for an hour?” I asked. That was with Sunn O)))’s Flight Of The Behemoth album, which was a less interesting and far less polished effort. With the advent of Monoliths and Dimensions, I decided to give the band a second try. This time, I was blown away. At four tracks, Monoliths & Dimensions clocks in at a 53:44 and its time well spent. It’s also a dark descent into the void that combines all the terror of Black Metal, Dark Ambient and the night. Humans have a very rational fear of the dark and Sunn O))) is that darkness in music form. More than Lustmord, more than Earth, more than Xasthur or any of his Black Metal ilk, Sunn O)))’s music is scary. Another qualifier of how you listen to it is that you should listen to it at night, by yourself and with all the lights out.

Monoliths & Dimensions is, as I said before, the best album Sunn O))) has ever put to tape. Recorded over a period of two years, it’s the biggest their music has ever sounded and that’s saying something considering that their previous material was already pretty gigantic sounding. “Monoliths & Dimensions” is in fact the best description of their music: it’s massive in scale and sounds like a bleak void.

Unusually for Sunn O))), three of the four tracks on the album feature vocals. But Sunn O)))’s choice of vocalist, Mayhem’s Attila Csihar, is perfect for the terror inspiring atmosphere of their music. Csihar perfectly complements Sunn O)))’s music by bringing his fullest, deepest demon voice to bear. You can’t understand a word he’s saying because of his accent and just how deep his voice is, but the message gets across none the less: he’s gonna eat your soul. The voice Csihar uses on Monoliths & Dimensions is not the screech employed by most Black Metal vocalists or some silly pig growl like you’d find with a Death Metal band, but the voice of the abyss itself as it swallows you whole.

Csihar’s foreboding presence is felt most strongly on the opening track “Aghartha” which gets the album off to its rumbling start. At 17:33 it’s the longest track on the album and for the first eight minutes or so it’s business as usual in the Sunn O))) camp, with slow chords and mountains of feedback that will shake your blood. Then Csihar enters the picture and begins to slowly intone what I’ve heard is a poem about the creation of the earth. Looking at the lyrics (which do exist) I’m not sure what he’s taking about, but as I mentioned before, it doesn’t much matter. After the slow rumble of “Aghartha” melts away we begin the second track, the 9:42 long “Big Church (Megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért)” which is probably my favorite composition on the album and subsequently, my favorite Sunn O))) piece. You’re probably still looking at the subtitle. No I do not know how to pronounce it properly, but Attila Csihar does. “Big Church” (I’m not gonna write the impossible word every single time) begins with an unholy choir of fallen angels lamenting their lost grace before O’Malley and Anderson’s grinding chords start up again. But the angels (really a Viennese woman's choir) sing throughout this track, making it one of the prettier Sunn O))) songs in existence. As the music of “Big Church” builds and finally crescendos, Csihar reenters to speak more lyrics and does the impossible by reciting the word in the subtitle. Which, you know, should be impossible.

Csihar’s contributions to the album come to an end with the third track “Hunting And Gathering (Cydonia)” which features him at his most operatic. It also features a horn section and percussion, more things unusual for a Sunn O))) album. But the final song on the album, the haunting “Alice”, is perhaps the strangest. The first completely instrumental track on the album, “Alice” features traditional Sunn O))) song structure but manages to feel somehow less foreboding than anything else on this album. Listening to it feels like attending a very stormy funeral precession, laden as it is with mournful horns and dirgy riffs (or rather, even MORE dirgy riffs.) It feels sad, in place of the terror usually inspired by Sunn O))). My early comment about how this album is beautiful stems from the entirety of it’s construction and execution, but “Alice” is a strong swing in that statements favor all on it’s own. And there’s no twist either, no bogyman leaping out the closet at the last minute. The droning feedback fades away, leaving just the horns and strings behind and the album goes out on its mournful note.

You know, throughout this review I’ve explained how all of the more experimental elements make this less of a proper Sunn O))) album. But I’ve just realized coming to the end of this review that it is in the nature of Sunn O))) to be experimental and, therefore, it’s not so strange. Most people fail to grasp how meditative Sunn O)))’s music is: there’s a supremely Zen quality about the chord progression and the walls of sound. It makes for a very calming listening experience, at least for me. It may be feedback drenched Drone Metal but it’s strangely beautiful in a textural way and I like it. Just remember, play it loud or don’t play it at all.

Southern Lord Myspace (Sun O))) themselves don't appear to have an official one.)

Sunn O)) Official Website.

Southern Lord Official Website.

Various Sunn O))) Material ON Youtube.

Buy The Album.