Black One by Sunn O)))
 

I'm ordering this record tomorrow or the day after. What's it like soundwise? I mean, do I need a certain kind of stereo in order to hear it the right way? The box I have is small enough to be cradled.

I'm really interested in so-called Shoegaze Metal.

sunn o))) are not shoegaze metal.

if you are looking for something mbv but heavier, try:

jesu
nadja
the goslings
alcest

in that order.


still, black one is awesome, but i recommend you get the vinyl (if it's still available) instead of the cd, sounds way better.

if you are familiar with sunn o))), this album has more of a black metal flavour.

well, this isn't shoegaze metal at all, so prepare to be disappointed.

it sounds like guitar feedback... basically.. that's generalizing it maybe a little bit, but that's what it sounds like.. it sounds like someone playing a chord, letting it ring for a minute, playing another chord, letting it ring for a minute, etc. that being said, it's amazingly hypnotic and listenable, though i tend to think the concept is starting to run dry (though sunn inject enough elements to keep it interesting for now..).

as i mentioned on another thread, i've heard this album probably about 50 times, on computer speakers, portable cd players, different headphones, etc..

nothing will beat the time i was tripping and listening to this in the winter time at 3 in the morning full blast out of these two huge speakers (huge as in "half-stack amplifier" huge) in this huge house in the middle of the woods while tripping and the amplifiers turned into two huge druids and started walking towards me and waving their hands in front of me and showing me all these weird hyrogrylphic symbols and shit. it was just insane.

"orthodox caveman" is the jam of the year.

They are easily one of my favourite bands making music right now, but I feel like I'm repeating myself. They're the gayest thing to happen to metal since Black Sabbath.

But I don't even own a pitiful portable picnic player.

they are amazing and its a good album. i would also reccomend altar as well.

That's in'erestin'. The biggest speakers I have are home theater speakers. Too bad the subwoofer doesn't work anymore.

i would say with sunn o))) its the bass your really after but it doesnt really matter all that much. if you have a good pair of headphones?

confused by your quote sway. all their albums are basically identical, the same basic idea at least, except this one has a bit more vocals and production flourishes..

to me, black one is probably one of their worst... and altar and oracle has proven that they're just getting worse. i dig for the early stuff. 00 void and flight of the behemoth are my jams.

I know you think that I don't like you, but I would be curious to know how you'd break down this post bit by bit and explain it to me.

Hmm.

Well, I'm a huge Sunn fan, I guess, I mean one of my bands is basically a Sunn tribute band, so... Yeah.. I have all their stuff, either bought or in CD-R format... and I've listened to all of their albums many, many times, so I guess I am pretty educated on the world of Sunn and their 4-5-4-6 riffs.

Anyway... I don't understand why Sway would enjoy this disc... it's the same "slow chords drawn out forever" thing they always do.. but with some vocals and keyboards (very minimal and I think only at the beginning of a few tracks) and slicker production.. so, I was asking Sway why he could get into this kinda and not the others.

I love the early stuff, because it's so minimal and dirty and raw. I think when it got to around "White", they started deviating from their original sound in interesting ways, though it sometimes failed (the cover of For Whom the Bell Tolls comes to mind)... I appreciate their experiments, but it seemed to prove that their concept was already wearing thin..

Black is good enough and probably their last really good album they'll make. It's like their early stuff except slickly produced and with awful awful vocals and there's even guitar interplay in the second track (?!)...

"Altar" was the first Sunn release (or Boris release for that matter) that I found boring. It was just.. boring. It did nothing for me. And "Oracle", I dunno, it's just the same old crap but more "epic" and produced. Meh.

I think they're just going down a road wherein each new album gets me less and less excited. I mean, this band was originally a "side project" thing that was only supposed to last a few albums, but they keep going further and further.. playing in a doom drone band myself, I can readily admit how easy it is to get bored of playing and performing this kind of stuff. And it's very difficult to take the concept further than they've already taken it.

I'm not trying to offend anyone, my love of Sunn is obvious, I just fear that they're going to keep doing more albums that don't do anything for their sound except take it in less exciting directions. At least they are conceptually and aesthetically pleasing in all the directions they're going down; but realistically, their initial sound -- slow chords drawn out forever -- can't be expanded upon too much without taking away from what made it good to begin with. I'm happy Sunn is doing what they're doing... and I know the only reason they're experimenting so much is because they figured out that any kid with a decent amp could make a perfect copy of what Sunn is doing, so Sunn is probably trying to be taken seriously as "songwriters" instead of directionless amp worshippers... I just hope this Sunn thing doesn't go on for another 10 years, because .. yeah, they keep getting a little bit worse on each album, and that scares me.

Whoo. I hope that explained it.

Note when I said "Awful awful vocals", it was a compliment.

I spin this one more than any other SunnO))) release I have. I think it's their most multidimensional release and shows range while not giving up the core of their aesthetic.

I can see where you're coming from, and enjoyed reading your post, but just like static electricity found its own way to be appealing, so repetitiveness finds its way into your brain cells like an ever-changing creature. Sometimes the mathematics that go explain one's short-lived ventures into it might have to be broken down down by the sheer emotional power. I don't know what I'm talking about, you understand, but what's your views on cannibalism?

Well, I'm no expert, but I hear that if you eat a member of your own species, you'll go insane... so... I don't necassarily have a problem with people eating people (assuming the person's already dead), since maggots are going to eat the person anyway... so... yeah. I dunno.

Depends. The desire to be close to someone might lead a person to actually feel like the flesh has to be tasted, rather than them realising that a sense of loss will prevent them from having a physical sense of a living and breathing standing next to them. I was talking about it with a friend who happens to have a really tactile attitude towards people he fancies.

nomowish -

Black One is probably their most accessible release if you are not familiar with their sound... it's a good entry point and I hope it does well with you.

Sunn are one of my very favorite bands, and the live experience is unparalelled. If you have any opportunity to see them, do what it takes to get your ass there... you won't be disappointed... or maybe you will, but I have to say that a little smoke before hand won't hurt. =)

i think the reason oracle seems unsurprising (being generous because i like it...short review: track one, interesting dark ambient experiment; track two, same ol' shit; disc two: breath-fucking-taking, i love it.) is because they have surrounded themselves with the same collaborators they have used in the past (oren ambarchi, attilah, joe preston, atsuo).

the success of the real follow up to black one will have more to do with whom they chose to collaborate with (as proven by black one itself).

i prefer white1 & white2, i've got pretty board of sunn o))) though, i prefer them as a live band than a records band, but the last time i saw them it was kind of not that amazing anymore, plus that record with boris was a bit boring.

heheh, since everyneurotic brought him up, i'd like to say that i much prefer the works of oren ambarchi to sunn.