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Reviewing cds of unusual and extreme genres is never easy.
But that’s nothing new, the more extreme, the more controversy you will gain and the fewer followers you will get. But this is not always bad, cause some may like the experiment, some people are willing to look outside the boundaries laid by music for thousands of years. To kick of, this music isn’t for everyone and I’ve come across enough people who didn’t even want to call this music.
You still wan to read on?
Good, here goes:
The band named after the amp continue and bring us, their third effort.
The minimalist title of this album expresses the feel of this album. Minimalist is an awesome word for this genre, cause most of the time, there isn’t much going on. One or two down tuned guitars playing the same riff over and over again, maybe some simple drums or some tormented screams, but that’s it. That’s basically the formula of drone. This doesn’t mean they don’t like to experiment, on the opposite, they experiment a lot. Few other genres use their instruments, or abuse, just how you want to call it in such way and you’ll be amazed what kind of sounds they create.
I shall use the mere 3 song titles of this album to give you an idea of what to expect. Yes, you heard me right, 3 songs, the shortest clocking in at 15:32, the others are looooooonger.
The songs:
My Wall.
The Gates Of Ballard.
A Shaving Of The Horn That Speared You.
My Wall, this song actually has lyrics, so you think this song is more accessible?
Prepare to be disappointed. My Wall, a well chosen name for a drone song and it gives you a good feel of the album. The album starts and you have the feeling of standing in a desolate landscape with a huge black wall in the middle. You want to climb over this wall, but there’s not starting really. This is my wall, my burden, not a single crack or foothold to be found. The sound and feel is just immense. Every thought you had of climbing over this wall is in vain, it’s no use. After hours of trying you sit down against this wall and wait for this wall to crumble. You wait for the end, or at least, for a change. Not a change, just the constant flow of dark, suffocating clouds flowing over you and the wall. After a few days your water bottle is empty and you feel yourself getting weaker. You’re starting to hallucinate, you see a gate in the wall. The Gates of Ballard. Weak as you are you walk towards it, but you’re not hallucinating, it’s real, but it’s just as big and heavy as the wall. All of the sudden you see a lever, a way to open this gate and regain freedom and leave this morbid world? With all strength you push the lever, it’s heavy, you’re weak, you haven’t eaten for days. Thoughts of dying here on this side of the wall pass through your mind. You don’t want to die here, you wouldn’t wish this upon your worst enemy. With all strength left you push the lever and it moves. With a massive sound the gate opens. You walk towards the entrance hoping that you will go back to your own world, or heaven, or something, but instead, you walk in to more darkness. On the other side of this wall there is nothing, just like on the other side. You scream at the top of your longs, the sound fades away in seconds, you want to die. All of the sudden you feel a sharp pain and look towards your chest. There’s a huge horn, you’re pierced by this huge horn. All this time you thought you were alone, but no, there’s a huge beast there and you’re pierced by his horns. You feel the blood pouring down the horns and your life fading away. You loose consciousness and die, into darkness and nothingness you die….alone.
I think this sums up the cd. It’s huge, it’s massive, it’s impenetrable, it drains you, it’s not of this world. This very dark cd is great and filled with tons of creepy ambience, especially on A Shaving Of The Horn That Speared You. My description might make you think it’s not music, it’s more than music, it’s a sound experience. This album is excellent, and succeeds in creating an unbelievable atmosphere. Cold, harsh and dark.
This cd deserves a :
4/5
| other reviews of this album |
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so there is nothing wrong with this album, yet you give it a 4?
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Is that weird? It's a good album, but not a classic, a 4 is well deserved I think. Also note that it's a a 4 out of 5 rating an NOT a 4 out of 10, if that is what causes confusionThis Message Edited On 08.10.06
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Good review and well described. I prefer White 2 to this by a bit.
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When people started talking about these guys in R&M I was quite interested just because they sounded really different, even if I was unsure whether I'd like them. They turned out to be one of the few bands where I genuinely think that me trying to get into them turned out to be a waste of time. :-/
Your review actually describes the sound of it pretty well, but the music just did...nothing for me. At least I know now, I guess.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Thanks for the comments, I really didn't have a clue how to describe this cd, so I thought lets try something different. 
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This is an okay CD. I deserves a 4, but White2 is better.
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I agree with Med, this just isn't for me.
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Yay another Sunn O))) review, life is sweet.
I should really check this out but I bet it can't hold a candle to Black One
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Nice review, but im jumping on the bandwagon and agreeing on White 2 being better.
| | | Album Rating: 1.5
I could only really read to this album.
Other than that it's just a tedious waste of time. They're really nothing I could hear that set these track apart from one another.
A very poor album, I think.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
I think this is their best album, easily, and this would be the album I'd recommend to friends.
The year of release is 2003, btw.
edit: and also really needs to be edited and fixed up, like the track reviews and line breaks and such.This Message Edited On 08.20.06
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
GAAH, I hate the lay-out Sputnik gives me.
I type all my reviews in Word first with proper line breaks and stuff, but when I paste them in Sputnik the lay-out looks like something a 7 year old typed.
RAAAH!
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Very good review. Of the two White albums, I think this one is the best. This one's scarier XD
| | | Album Rating: 1.0
I hate Sunn O))) with every fiber of my being. Why they get any recognition at all for what they do is completely beyond me.
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Its hard to read your review, I dont think that the one big paragraph is your fault though, this is a good album but a few things bother me about it,
1. Julian Copes'(sp) poem is kinda stupid, it starts out fine, but it just gets silly during some parts.
2. The drum machine. Drum machines are lame, even if it is joe preston programming it. It just takes way from the crushing sound of the music.
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I love the poem on "My Wall." I love how intense he gets and then returns to that soft whisper. And the moans of "my walllll" always get me. The "old motherfucker, she was a cocksucker" part is hilarious but I think that the parts where he's talking about "down to the square to judge at the thing" and the "the infernal priestess of freyja, these be her people, layer upon layer" just really reflect the haunting, sinister tone of the song.
The drum machine definitely sucks though, I can't really listen to that song. The intro is cool but too freaky for my tastes. That wailing always wakes me up.
"A Shaving..." is definitely the key track though. That haunting guitar line and the deep breaths at the end make it such a spectacularly haunting track.
Incredible album in my opinion, but not as good as Black One.
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Nice review, and description of My Wall
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good good good band
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I have all of Sunn's albums and haven't listsned to one of them yet :/
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omg
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