Live music review: Drone metal band Sunn O))) blew the doors off Paramount Theater last week
A storm is coming. We manifested it. Any band can be loud, but only a few acts can reach a bone-crushing level of instrumental density that provokes more than what meets the pedestrian ear. When Seattle’s Sunn O))) (pronounced Sun) takes the reins of any stage, a cloud of fog appears, and the drone metal collective is off to a slow and steady spectacle. The Washington state joint is a complex performance oddity. Equipped with a dozen or so amplifiers stacked to the level of ancient monuments, the sonic abilities of the group knows no end. On Wednesday night at Paramount Theater in Austin, Sunn summoned a mystical performance that showcased their unending ability to create glacial soundscapes that made the audience’s jaws drop to the floor with their slow-burning modus operandi.
Sunn has been sitting on the Drone Throne for over two decades to date. Taking a cue from their Seattle contemporaries, Earth, the band has evolved into a prolific machine. Bandleader Stephen O’Malley is a musical prophet and has been building his Dronehenge empire for years. The independent label, Southern Lord Records that puts out Sunn O))) records was founded by band mate, Greg Anderson. Since collaborating with the likes of Attila Csihar from Norwegian Black Metal band Mayhem, Japanese metal titans Boris, and more, Sunn has since stripped it back to the basics for their recent tours. Performing as a two-piece dubbed as Shoshin Duo, the pair have been touring in their classic form. Though stripped back to the duo of their formative years, Wednesday night in Austin was anything but a lackluster metal performance.
Upon taking the stage, the band was immersed in a cloud of fog. Hooded band members picked up their guitars, raised their hands, and plunged into a continuous long, drawn-out storm of throbbing, down-tuned mayhem. The drone legends summoned a torrential audio storm, and once their sonic ritual began, nothing could stop them. After seeing noise outfit Swans perform at Paramount earlier this year, we were aware of the massive sound capabilities of the downtown venue. We wisely opted to bring earplugs to experience the thought-provoking, ambient musical ritual at hand. Sunn lets the noise and feedback go to work for their shows, allowing the stellar light show to be a mesmerizing presence of its own. A spotlight in the top center of the backdrop created a hypnotic, atmospheric presence. The fog gravitated toward the stage lights, making a black hole visual element that absorbed the relentless fog into its clutches. The glorious noise was unabated throughout the show, with no stops in instrumental downpour for stage banter or introductions.
The Shoshin Duo took time throughout the performance to disappear into the stage mist, adding a mysterious aura to the gig. Since Paramount is a seated theater, the audience had a razor-sharp focal point to the events onstage, allowing them to bask in the glory of the occasion without distraction. A moment of performance prowess came when one of the hooded figures took advantage of the perfect moment within the dry-iced foggy abyss and raised his guitar to the Sun-sculpted light, creating a silhouette of a heavy metal warrior offering his service to the deities that give him his powers to cast sonic spells of contemplative, riveting compositions. Sitting behind touring light expert, Anne Weckström, a few lucky audience members saw her go to work and make visual magic like that of an alchemist blending music and light. The exhibition felt supernatural, offering a wide array of visuals that burned in the mind.
The slow tempos don’t hold Sunn back by any means; the pace for these presentations is meant to be slowly chewed and digested with sinister enjoyment in every delicious, sonic bite. Sunn feasts on every sound with psychoactive intent, making each minute of sound count with immense spell-casting of gasoline-soaked musical concepts. The runes of Sunn O))) are not to be trifled with, as their coveted magic amasses the audience in a bottomless pit of discovery and self-bemusement. When the performance concluded, there was a sense of an aural storm finally passing, with an unspoken promise of another day of reckoning soon. The smoke cleared, and the cloaked heroes revealed their true form and took a bow, thanking the concert attendees for participating in their evening stage ritual.
Sunn O))) continues to tour the United States through the end of the year. Tickets can be found here.
All photos and video by Case Cockrell
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