Sunn O)))

Flight of the Behemoth (Southern Lord)
by Craig Regala

OK, the disc is divided into “songs,” but its flow is similar to Sleep’s Jeruselum: One big chunk of stuff with different moods affecting the flow. Sunn O)))‘s Flight… isn’t nearly so dynamic rock-wise as, as I’d imagine their approach overall isn’t. Their approach is closest to the Earth record, Earth Live! Sunn Amps and Smashed Guitars. Take the ambience of a large slow-moving lava flow puntuated by crackles, bonks, and slight tempo changes as the lava engulfs/destroys this or that – buildings, weeds, a small creek etc. – and run it through a guitar factory. Really, this is a post-rock ambient/noise construct whereas something like Electric Wizard’s Super Coven has songs plasticized into 15-minute drone mantras. By using guitars, Sunn may be easier for the average mushhead (i.e. me, probably you) to relate to. I suppose you could see this as the doom/dope answer to Lou Reed’s panic/speed Metal Machine Music which dispensed with the actual instruments to replicate the fucking noise in Reed’s head. The mid-low ranges used makes this comfortably listenable at high volume. I have six late-’70s Technics speakers in a five foot bank with an old Fisher 80 Watt amp pushing, so when the “piano” gets plucked at just shy of the 30 minute mark, my EKG goes all funny and I become kinda engaged emotionally, so it works if you have the time or focus. Also, it’s tremendously disorientating to anyone expecting “heavy metal.” Throw it on at work and see. I did.
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