Monoliths & Dimensions, the seventh studio album from
Greg Anderson and Stephen O’Malley’s high-concept ensemble SunnO))),
continues the band’s tradition of alienating meat-and-potato metalheads
while winning over experimental-music enthusiasts. It benefits from
composer Eyvind Kang’s adept and often subtle string and horn
arrangements. But this isn’t SunnO))) with the San Francisco Symphony
— this is dynamic instrumentation that informs the band’s literal
wall of sound just as much as it’s affected by it. While 2006’s
Black One evoked an inexorable sense of immediacy, Monoliths
& Dimensions is a more patient, mature work with a wide
range of dynamics.
“Aghartha” opens with the expected purgatory of guitars and develops
slowly, as Attila Csihar recites poetry about “the hollow Earth” in
low, guttural tones. The additional accompanists are understated and
deliberate here, careful to take part in the musical conversation
without dominating it, save for an appropriately assertive piano line
provided by avant-jazz saxophonist Eric Walton (a.k.a. Skerik). Fans of
Sunn0)))’s older material will feel right at home with “Hunting &
Gathering,” an outright riff jam with a male choir to boot. The widest
orbits around the group’s core of distorted and saturated tones are
“Big Church” and “Alice.” The former utilizes a women’s choir led by
Jessika Kenney and pauses for a haunting ceremonial bell. The latter
blossoms from uncharacteristically warm guitars to verdant classical
passages that evoke the slogan “maximum volume yields maximum results.”
— Nick DeMarino
This article appears in Jun 3-9, 2009.
