Review Summary: Tumultuous Sensual Devastation…
If anything is for certain it’s that bands like Sunn O))) play down the need for acts to have a rhythm section. A swirl of convoluting drones forced on by resonating feedback guitars can be the basis for any audio experience and while this will not cater to everyone’s need for sonic enjoy ability, there is a simple pleasure from listening to Sunn O)))’s latest designs circa 2014.
La Reh 012 may just be a supposed demo recording, but for those familiar with the group’s soundscapes this becomes a tantalizing look into the continuous noise of this American drone/doom act. Turn the volume up, close your eyes.
La Reh 012 begins to play on your thoughts, clearly the masterminds behind such a force have more than ringing chords on their minds. There’s torment, despair and even longing to be found in these two tracks, you simply need to let the noise take you.
Despite being only two tracks in length
La Reh 012 is far from a short affair. At thirty-eight and a half minutes, this mere demo recording requires (at the very minimum) some patience to be heard one end to the other. It’s not something for the light-hearted or easily distracted. It takes longer still to fully appreciate the layered sounds of stringed depression and make sense of the waves within the chords. It’s gravelly, solid and is murky enough to please the old school death metal fans, although they may find the absence of solid riffs undesirable. Those familiar with the act know that a statement like the aforementioned has little to no place being mentioned at all.
It’s not all one tone throughout this two tracked release, while void of drums and any normal vocal lines, the record’s second track manages to shake the atmosphere with wailing, screams and crying. Being slightly longer than the first, this track allows more time for simple fleshing out. Halfway through the second track, the atmosphere changes again, decrescendo, crescendo to normal – but the track’s bearing is different, changed. ‘Invisible / Sleeper’ continues in the same sonic vein found in almost all Sunn O))) tracks, but it doesn't recycle in the way most would imagine droning chords to be similar. A sinister gurgling of bass, feedback and dormant energy float to the surface like a bubble underwater, but instead of bursting into nothingness, it sits on the top only to be carried by the motion of water; It’s smooth despite the contrast in form. For Sunn O))),
La Reh 012 may just be a long flash in the pan, but it’s certainly welcome.
