It had been several years without an offering to the gods from the monolithic duo of Greg Anderson and Stephen O’Malley of SunnO))). That changed pretty quickly in 2014 with two releases already having been unleashed. With all of the excitement over Terrestrials, the bands collaboration with Ulver released in February, I unintentionally managed to overlook this release that arrived from them earlier this year.
LA REH 012 is being called a demo, but is so much more than that short title would imply. It sounds totally evil and perfectly realized. Full of menace and saturating darkness that pulse from the speakers like an ill and diseased heartbeat. While only consisting of two tracks, there is still nearly 40 minutes of material to sink your teeth into on LA REH 012. Recorded last year in Los Angeles and Paris, what it may lack in tracks in the eyes of some, it more than makes up for in content.
The first track “First up is Last One/Valentine’s Day” of LA REH 012 ,which crawls out of its den slowly before drenching you in feedback, dark tones, and chilling atmosphere. It becomes completely intoxicating in very short order. Over and over again, the sound trembles and feeds back, then loops around again. It wears you down and is somewhat reminiscent of ØØ Void . I found myself quite awe struck by it. To put this in the simplest terms, this track honestly represents nearly everything that I love about SunnO))). A terrifying and filthy sound that seems to come straight from the depths of unparallelled darkness that the band are somehow able to harness and wrangle to the floor.
“Invisible/Sleeper”, the second and final track on LA REH 012 , begins with swirls of disturbing howls, chants and screams. It is unnerving at first before subsiding into a haze of drone and feedback for a short time and then rises up once more only to slowly disintegrate and regenerate time and time again. It creeps up, like the tide, slowly reaching a little bit further onto the dry sand with the edge of each wave. No real beginning and no real end. That is an impressive thing to do with sound. Repetition can be challenging to some, but what SunnO))) does, I find to be thoroughly rewarding and downright riveting.
I am impressed with LA REH 012 and believe it to be yet another significant piece along the journey of SunnO))). You never really know what to expect when it comes to SunnO))) and that is something that I relish when getting the chance to hear new material from them. It will have a slightly different angle of descent each time, but will also still retain their signature sound. Evolving while still managing to hold onto an unmistakable identity that is your own, that’s creative music at its very best. LA REH 012 is superb and should have some alone time with your ears very soon if you have not already done so. Highly recommended listening and for best results, please keep in mind that maximum volume is required.
Rating: 4.7/5
http://sunn.bandcamp.com/album/la-reh-012
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