Flight Of The Behemoth

Sunn's first two discs, The Grimmrobe Demos and 00 Void, established the group's droning, bass-heavy "power ambient" doom style and showed that the bandmembers had spent plenty of time listening to and learning from their Earth records. With Flight of the Behemoth, they begin with that same basic foundation (in fact, the first two tracks are impossible to distinguish from ones on their earlier albums), but for the first time also branch out to create something new, something that goes beyond any sort of mere Earth worship. This is partially true of the last track, "F.W.T.B.T.," which employs a drummer and a vocalist for the first time on any Sunn recording, but more so on the third and fourth ones, "O))) Bow 1" and "O))) Bow 2." Given the once-over by special guest mixer/legendary noise artist Merzbow, Sunn's hypnotic, slow-as-molasses feedback drones slowly evolve into a wall of distorted, swirling (although not completely overdriven) noise on these tracks, creating the sensation of being slowly sucked into a black hole while a symphony of chain saws plays in the background. Sound like fun? Well, needless to say, this music is not for everybody, but this collaboration has yielded something truly immense and frightening, bridging the gaps between dark ambient/drone music and electronic noise, between doom metal and avant-garde electro-acoustic sound. This is a remarkable album, recommended for brave connoisseurs of any of the above genres. ~ William York

ゴートスネイクとバーニング・ウィッチのメンバーによる2人組プロジェクトの3枚目。脳を粉砕し、神経をズタズタに切り刻むそのサウンドは、ドゥーム、ノイズ、スラッジの見事な融合。それは聴く者に幻覚症状を引き起こさせ、狂気渦巻く暗黒地下世界へと引きずり込むようでもあり、一度ハマると逃れられない。気がつけばナチュラル・トリップ状態に陥ってしまうようだ。プロデュースはメルツバウの秋田昌美が担当。
bounce (C)杉本康雄