Album review: Sunn O))) – Sunn O)))

In several ways, Sunn O)))’s 10th full-length feels like a boiling down of their essence. It’s the first of their albums to feature no guest musicians, every noise and drone on display channelled through Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson. It’s released by legendary Seattle label Sub Pop, original home of the duo’s primeval ancestors Earth. And as a self-titled record, it’s tempting to view this as some sort of definitive statement.

However, for all that the slo-mo drones of XXANN or Butch’s Guns will feel satisfyingly familiar to acolytes of this remarkable outfit, Sunn O)))’s ability to drag their seismic sounds in new directions precludes the idea that there will ever be a singular perfect manifestation of their vision. What’s different this time round is that where previous work has drawn inspiration from, say, black metal (Black One) or jazz (Monoliths & Dimensions), here it’s the great outdoors bleeding into their hypnotic channels.

Mindrolling opens not with feedback or distortion but the sound of running water, recorded while hiking in the woods and countryside of the duo’s native Pacific Northwest. Drones exist in the environment as much as in music, and this record’s slow journey amplifies the sensation that Sunn O))) are more comparable to geological activity or ecological processes than, y’know, other bands. Fittingly, liner notes are supplied by nature writer Robert Macfarlane, whose acclaimed book Underland explored caves, catacombs and forest root systems – subterranean spheres governed by the same sort of deep time that Sunn O))) evoke.

Whether this is music of meditative transcendence or uncanny terror will depend not just on the listener, but on their frame of mind and surroundings. What remains undeniable is that Sunn O)))’s all-enveloping textures occupy a landscape like no other. Slow your breathing, open your ears and let yourself be taken there.

Verdict: 4/5

For fans of: Earth, Melvins, The Body

Sunn O))) is released on April 3 via Sub Pop