# Sunn O))) WTF)))???



## Shannon (Mar 8, 2007)

So....
After hearing lots of reviews about how great Sunn O))) is, I finally checked out 2 of their albums titled "White 1" and "White 2." Suffice to say, that's one of the most boring listens I've ever encountered. Each album spans 1 hour divided into 3 "songs" (I use that term very loosely) of monotonous droning. Hell, there's not even a drum beat....just droning guitars, tons of samples & electronic blips. Weird. Ever heard of them?


----------



## JJ Rodriguez (Mar 8, 2007)

I've heard of them, and listened to some of it. I just don't get it. Maybe it's because I don't do drugs


----------



## forelander (Mar 8, 2007)

They are part of the sludge/drone metal movement, characterised by really long songs and repetition. Similar bands include iron monkey, early isis and cult of luna though the latter two have more broken off towards post metal stuff. I can enjoy some of the sludge stuff but I have to be in the right mood.


----------



## Shannon (Mar 8, 2007)

JJ Rodriguez said:


> Maybe it's because I don't do drugs


^ And neither do I....and that may be the problem given this band. 

I felt the same way about Sunn O))) as I did when I heard Sleep's "Jerusalem." 1 song, over an hour long & drony as hell, but at least it had drum keeping some kind of rhythmic motion.


----------



## Shannon (Mar 8, 2007)

forelander said:


> They are part of the sludge/drone metal movement, characterised by really long songs and repetition. Similar bands include iron monkey, early isis and cult of luna though the latter two have more broken off towards post metal stuff. I can enjoy some of the sludge stuff but I have to be in the right mood.



Well, I don't mind slow doom or stoner metal, but Sunn is just downright BORING!


----------



## Metal Ken (Mar 8, 2007)

yeah, it pretty much sucks


----------



## Mastodon (Mar 8, 2007)

From what I've read, you can't really get into it unless you go to the concerts or have really fucking loud speakers. Apparently the concerts are all about the experience of having the huge sound waves crash into your body, sort of like a meditative process or some far-out stuff like that.


----------



## forelander (Mar 8, 2007)

Shannon said:


> Well, I don't mind slow doom or stoner metal, but Sunn is just downright BORING!



Yeah I agree, there's not too much happening with Sunn0))). The album I heard had drums though, maybe you'd like it more?


----------



## Naren (Mar 8, 2007)

Never heard them before, but that sounds really really boring.

And how do you say that name? "Hi, Las Vegas. We're Sunn Oh right bracket right bracket right bracket. How are you tonight!?"


----------



## Shannon (Mar 8, 2007)

Naren said:


> Never heard them before, but that sounds really really boring.
> 
> And how do you say that name? "Hi, Las Vegas. We're Sunn Oh right bracket right bracket right bracket. How are you tonight!?"


 Well, it's actually the old Sunn Amplifier logo. Guess which amps they use. 

Here's a quote from Wikipedia about the aforementioned albums:


> Recently, Sunn O))) has been experimenting with a variety of drone styles and sounds, progressing the primarily guitar and bass style of The Grimmrobe Demos and ØØ Void. On White1 and White2, Sunn O))) noticeably expanded on conceptualization by inviting several guests (see collaborations below), resulting in everything from quiet meditative ambient sounds ("A Shaving of the Horn that Speared You" from White1) to a bizarre bass experiment track ("bassAliens" from White2).


----------



## DDDorian (Mar 8, 2007)

I love this band! You don't actually pronounce the "O)))", people call them either "Sunn" or "Sunn Oh". I saw them live twice in the space of three days and my bowels still haven't recovered, heh. Their backline was massive, like a huge cul-de-sac of cabinets, and the band come out in robes and stuff and make the whole show into a ritual-like experience. They were so intense that the Dillinger Escape Plan show I saw in between seemed dull by comparison.


----------



## TomAwesome (Mar 8, 2007)

They're not the best example of their genre. If you're curious to hear that kind of music done better, check out _Cult of Luna_ and _Pelican_. I got to see Pelican live when they opened for Opeth, and I thought they kicked ass personally. The guys I went with really weren't impressed, though. Post-metal isn't for everyone I guess.


----------



## Kotex (Mar 8, 2007)

Yeah I've checked 'em out before. But not really my thing. Just kinda' noise.


----------



## Shannon (Mar 8, 2007)

Well, I'm checking out the band, YOB, right now & these guys seem to be more my type of stoner/doom metal.


----------



## Metal Ken (Mar 8, 2007)

TomAwesome said:


> Post-metal


----------



## Carrion (Mar 8, 2007)

Drone Doom FTW!


----------



## Leec (Mar 8, 2007)

Metal Ken said:


>



It's delivered to you.

I read something amusing about Sunn once, that their aim is to cause bowel movements. I thought that was fairly awesome.
I checked them out and just don't dig that sort of "ambient" approach to music. I prefer something much more dynamic.


----------



## TomAwesome (Mar 8, 2007)

Metal Ken said:


>



Post-metal is just what I've heard stuff like that classified as. If you look up Pelican on metal-archives.com, it actually says they're post-hardcore... it's so difficult keeping up with all of metal's subgenres, though, so I hardly even try/care.


----------



## Naren (Mar 8, 2007)

Metal Ken said:


>



I never really got a lot of these genres, but I use them. For example, I love a lot of post-hardcore bands. Now you might think "Why not just call them hardcore?" Well, the reason is that they aren't hardcore and sound nothing like hardcore. They sound similar and you can see where they came from, but they're different enough that you can't call them "hardcore." 

The idea of "post-metal" being "after" metal is pretty ridiculous, especially the idea that because it's "after" the genre, it's better than the original genre.

Eh, I just ignore that kind of nonsense... I've personally never heard the term "post-metal" before since metal is a pretty huge genre, but I have heard of other "post-<genres>" before (post-punk, post-hardcore, etc.)


----------



## forelander (Mar 9, 2007)

Listen to the isis discography, or the cult of luna discography. The first albums are more metal/drone and sorta go on from there to post metal. Pelican are straight post metal. Songs lack any structures, everything just sorta progresses. Things are very atmospheric and usually build to some kind of climax. I personally love the genre, having seen isis live, and can't recommend these bands enough to everyone else. No matter what you call it, its awesome. 

Also there aren't too many bands in the genre, which is why not many people have heard of it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_metal


----------



## noodles (Mar 9, 2007)

To me, stoner/doom metal one of those genres like black metal: for every good band, there are a hundred more that bore the living shit out of me. Sun O))) is one of those bands. It's not they suck, it's just they put me to sleep.


----------



## D-EJ915 (Mar 9, 2007)

I thought that was an amp company...so why did they name themselves after them?


----------



## noodles (Mar 9, 2007)

Because those are the amps they use.


----------



## All_¥our_Bass (Mar 10, 2007)

Mastodon said:


> From what I've read, you can't really get into it unless you go to the concerts or have really fucking loud speakers. Apparently the concerts are all about the experience of having the huge sound waves crash into your body, sort of like a meditative process or some far-out stuff like that.


 
I've been told by Sunn O))) concert goers themselves "It's like be massaged by sound."




JJ Rodriguez said:


> I just don't get it.Maybe it's because I don't do drugs.


Yeah, drugs might help in that category. "Drugs are bad mkay."
Sad thing with me is I don't _*need*_ to be stoned to enjoy such excessive strangeness (but I have to admit, some bud makes it WAY more fun).



TomAwesome said:


> Post-metal is just what I've heard stuff like that classified as. If you look up Pelican on metal-archives.com, it actually says they're post-hardcore... it's so difficult keeping up with all of metal's subgenres, though, so I hardly even try/care.


 
OT, but Pelican rocks. "March To The Sea" =


----------

