Sunn O))) is one of those bands that either clicks with people right from the get-go or has them immediately turning it off. Over the past twenty-seven years the core duo has taken their drone and drone metal foundation and explored a wide range of textures and tones, bringing in a wide range of collaborators to do so. Their material requires focus and patience to get the most out of the layers and subtle shifts, but in the right headspace and volume they offer an incredible experience that brings a wide range of imagery to mind. I’m partial to the downright scary sounding Black One as well as the more expansive nature of Monoliths & Dimensions, but everyone seems to have slightly different touch points that grabbed them. Since the release of Life Metal and Pyroclasts in quick succession in 2019 Sunn O))) has been quiet on the studio front, only putting out some surprisingly short tracks Evil Chuck / Ron G Warrior as part of Sub Pop’s Singles Club in 2023. This year the group has not only confirmed that Sub Pop will now be their new official label home but put out a maxi-single in the form of Eternity's Pillars b/w Raise the Chalice & Reverential. It’s a back to the basics type of release that returns things back to the core duo of Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson without any guests, and while it doesn’t always reach the same heights as some of their best those who enjoy this type of drone will still find plenty to like here.
Seeing that this year was the twenty fifth anniversary of Sunn O)))’s debut album ØØVOID, it makes sense that they would pivot back to more stripped-down guitar and bass drone metal without all the additional instruments and vocal contributions from later efforts. What this means is the three tracks return to the pure exploration of extremely loud and dense drone through slow as molasses chord changes and prolonged notes and reverb. It recalls Sunn O)))’s original exploration that sometimes felt like an homage to Earth’s Earth 2: Special Low Frequency Version, but for those that have spent extended time with the band there are noticeable differences. Compared to the rawer and denser sound of ØØVOID so many years ago, there’s more polish and clarity to the recording here and it gives a bit more space to the layers. The lack of additional instrumentation does mean that you must work for some more of the details, as the subtleties lie in the way the extended layers of sound crash and collide into each other as well as the chord shifts over different periods of time. It’s perhaps a bit more approachable than some of the most abstract pieces in the group’s discography, but not one that I’d necessarily recommend as the ideal entry point for newcomers.
With that in mind, let’s dive deeper into the three tracks themselves. It’s important to note the origins of the maxi-single, as this plays into how Sunn O))) has structured things. Historically this type of media emphasized a main track or two on the A-side and either remixes or other complementary pieces, and this is exactly how Eternity’s Pillars feels to listen to. “Eternity’s Pillars” takes up the bulk of the run-time, offering that familiar low-end rumble and plenty of haunting reverberation that creates a dark and tense soundscape, which then bleeds into “Raise the Chalice” and “Reverential”. “Raise the Chalice” is my personal favorite of the three, as it has the lowest tone and the reverberations towards the end have this almost machinelike, industrial sound that is genuinely unsettling. “Reverential” feels like a continuation of this, and the way that it simply ends makes it come through like a complement or loop that encourages you to hit repeat and take everything in all over again. Admittedly, despite this sounding standard for the Sunn O))) repertoire, I didn’t find the pay offs to be quite as good as some of their past discography as sometimes the shifts were just too subtle. That’s not to say there weren’t sections that grabbed me, especially on “Raise the Chalice”, but the peaks are a bit more subdued and don’t always take you to the sheer transcendental atmosphere one may be hoping for.
Any Sunn O))) release is challenging and requires the right headspace and focus, even for those that have spent plenty of time with their discography. This latest effort may sound like the same old thing to outsiders, and it is admittedly a more stripped down and back to the roots approach for the duo. But there continue to be notable shifts in how the band methodically gets from beginning to end, and while not all of them fully clicked with me in the way some of their past material has those that can appreciate some of the purer drone/drone metal approaches may have a different response. I’m still happy to have welcomed this long-running act back into my listening repertoire after a few years away, and it’ll be interesting to hear what they have up their sleeve for another studio release. Eternity's Pillars b/w Raise the Chalice & Reverential is available from Sub Pop.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg