Why not downtune your guitar so far that you risk intestinal prolapse? Such appeared to be the basis of Seattle duo Sunn O)))’s occult philosophy when they appeared in the late 90s with their debut album, The Grimmrobe Demos. Taking a step further with this follow-up, in that the production was both crystal-clear and terrifying, Sunn O))) – Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson, who take their name from the logo found on Sunn amps – recorded four songs that are that rare thing: genuinely flipping scary.
Droned, transcendent doom metal that redefined the genre tag, the music emanating from the CD (both on the original and this vanilla, unremastered reissue) spoke directly to the gut rather than the brain, threatening to leave the listener in a state of glorious depression for several hours after hearing the stuff. Learning that one of the four songs, Rabbits’ Revenge, is a remake of The Melvins’ 1992 song Hung Bunny doesn’t make it any easier to digest, or indeed less intimidating. Session bass from Stuart Dahlquist of Goatsnake added yet more fear to the band’s sound, which still sounds unique 11 years later.
