November 22, 2019

Sunn O))) - a numinous, reality-altering antechamber to a different realm

Guardian has an interesting essay about Sunn O))), especially about what did the American drone metal greats do to a change of perspective on metal music. "In an age where people crave spiritual meaning, psychological healing and escape from the hellscape of rolling news and the 'constant on' of social media in VR or expensive 'immersive experiences', Sunn O))) offer access to a genuinely new, ego-dissolving space that knocks all of the others into a cocked hat. They have created a numinous, reality-altering antechamber to a different realm. And this space offers one of life’s most rewarding pleasures: after a long period of hearing something that sounded forbidding or blankly uniform, there is a moment of realisation when the sound suddenly comes into sharp, crystalline focus, presenting an unexplored space of fractal depth, emotion and texture. And then, finally, you can pass into a whole new cultural world".