ØØ Void

Sunn's earlier stuff is real appealling to me. While I do like their more abstract, later work (particularly White2) I prefer it when Sunn drop the ambient tunes, and the strange collaborations, and just tune their guitars real low and drone for a long time. Of course, while drone is good, you do need some sort of variety- and luckily, OOVoid manages to keep you (relatively) interested- it's not just riffs for the sake of riffs.

Most people know what to expect with Sunn- that is, massive, incredibly down tuned riffs played very slowly. This album is probably where Sunn O))) took their drone the furthest, and where it's at its most pure. It's slower then the Grimmrobe demos and less abstract then their later stuff. The production is by far the bassiest you've heard in any Sunn O))) album (which says a lot). There's almost no top end at all- just massive sub bass frequencies that hurt your throat if you don't sit properly. It's real impressive.

To try to think of a better way of describing the Sunn O))) experience, instead of doing a review, I'm just going to write about what listening to this band feels like (at very loud volumes, of course.) Just picture the scene- you're sitting on a couch, you've got a nice big cranked stereo, and then.. you press the play button.

First, you really start feeling the sub bass. It's not always a nice feeling- your ears get really pressureized, your throat hurts, sometimes your stomach cramps up. You can hear certain things in your house vibrating and humming- like they're about to break. The riffs aren't all that great- really, the whole thing is boring as hell. You're not really enjoying this experience- but you DID just pay for a CD, so you may as well give it a chance.

Slowly, however, things start changing. The riffs pound you into a steady trance, and soon, you are at one with the music. You can't really feel your limbs all that much- it may be the trance, or it may be numbness, but you're liking it anyway. You remember how you where once bored with the riffs- but now, there is nothing but a primal awe of them- they are your world. They are everywhere. And they're huge, monolithic and oh so bassy. You can't think about anything else. Eventually, you stop thinking. There's no thought about anything- just the absorption of the overwhelming sound.

Basically, this experience, or ritual as you could call it, goes on for roughly an hour, until the album finally ends. While obviously seeing Sunn live is much better- this is still good. Please, to everyone thinking of buying some Sunn O))) cd's- Listen to them on big Speakers!!! Otherwise there is absolutely no point buying this kind of stuff. Maximum volume yields maximum results.

Really, this review is addressed to those who are curious about Sunn O))) and Drone in particular. If you hate drone, you're not going to like this album. If you like drone- well, this is probably the best heavy drone album you'll ever hear. If you're new into drone- let me warn you. This is not exciting in any way. But, with proper sound reinforcement, this slow, crawling group of riffs becomes hypnotic and worthy of awe and wonder.