The Depths · All albums

Monoliths & Dimensions

Sunn O))) · 2009

• Zone: Abyss (level 5 of 5)
• Genre: Metal, Drone
• Mood: colossal, glowing, ceremonial
• Sound: drone, extreme volume, orchestral arrangements, women’s choir, very long songs

Monoliths & Dimensions is the album where Sunn O))) moved drone metal away from pure guitar walls and into something close to a chamber work. Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson’s slow, heavily amplified guitar drones are joined by composer Eyvind Kang’s arrangements for strings, brass, horns, harp and a women’s choir, along with Attila Csihar’s vocals, Dylan Carlson’s guitar and trombonists Julian Priester and Stuart Dempster. The band said it is not “Sunn O))) with strings” and focused instead on the timbre of feedback and the featured instruments. The pieces are very long and very slow, with huge shifts in volume and texture, and “Alice” is a dedication to jazz harpist Alice Coltrane.

Track list

1. Aghartha
2. Big Church [megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért]
3. Hunting & Gathering (Cydonia)
4. Alice