Year Of Metal #033: Sunn O))) - Life Metal
How on Earth do you begin to discuss a record like Sunn O))’s Life Metal? Well, the first thing to say is: if you like records where a lot of stuff happens, this isn’t the one for you. That’s not a knock, but a fair warning: this 2019 LP is an hour and change of pure, overwhelming volume and vibes. It wouldn’t even be right to describe it as sprawling; rather, it envelops, a sticky, ominous ooze of an album that’s visceral without resorting to violence.
I’ve been aware of Sunn O))) for some time but only really heard them through collaborations. I’ve watched a little of their work with Boris, and I like Soused (their collaboration with Scott Walker) quite a lot. Their own work, though, I’ve maybe always been a little afraid of. Life Metal isn’t exactly a hugely accessible record, but neither is it unpleasant to listen to in any way. Sunn O)))’s monolithic guitars don’t assault the ears but rather the body. The waves of sound are so low and rumbling as to hit you right in the guts.
Opener “Between Sleipnir’s Breaths” throws the listener a bit of a bone in the form of hushed, almost fearful vocals from cellist and film music ace Hildur Guðnadóttir, but, like the twinkling synths that try to peer through the murk on “Troubled Air”, the light touches are soon subsumed by another crashing wave of overwhelmingly hefty guitar. The latter track particularly finds joy in mining ever deeper for lower and lower notes, the doom-laden, heavy gauge strings suffocating everything in their path.
The near-20 minute “Aurora” may be my favourite composition of the album. It’s minimal even by the standards of Life Metal, but it’s a phenomenal experience played with enough volume. It’s the sound of madness, confusion - just when you think you’ve figured out the progression, the guitar takes a stranger turn still, or lingers on one droning, choking chord for what seems like an eternity. Put this on as background music and you’ll soon find yourself dragged unwittingly into the thick fog.
Amazingly, Sunn O))) have described Life Metal as an attempt to make their music less dark. While there’s nothing explicitly nasty in its content, it isn’t a record that obviously smacks of positivity. That’s not to say it isn’t a fun listen - I enjoyed it a great deal. But the wall-to-wall gloop of guitars certainly don’t scream sweetness and light.
Again, though, that’s not a criticism. Sunn O))) are metal act who seem to have found a sizeable portion of their fanbase in the experimental rather than metal world per se, and it’s certainly the kind of music that appeals to a rather niche audience and could be dismissed in quite unkind terms by others. It’s not the kind of stuff you just stick on for a song or two, not least because even the two shortest tracks on this record are going to demand nearly half an hour of your time (combined). But when an album can actually affect you physically through its sheer heft, that’s rare power.
