SUNN O)))

With four songs split up between two shiny slabs of vinyl, "Monoliths & Dimensions" isn't exactly directed towards the iPod toting, digiphile crowd. While necessity has forced the folks at Southern Lord to issue a CD version of this release, there's no arguing that the best way to experience SUNN O))) is au natural. For the unaware, Steven O'Malley and Greg Anderson have spent the last decade dragging the very idea of what music is to its darkest and murkiest depths. The duo's collaborations with artists of all styles and sonic experimentations have seen them acquire and occult-like following rarely seen in today's trend-humping world.

Where previous SUNN O))) releases have seen moments of tormented aggression scream from the speakers or melodic enchantment wash over the listener, "Monoliths & Dimensions" seems to be here to remind us that music is sound, sound is noise and noise is nothing more than vibration. From the detuned and droning growl of Anderson's bass, these vibrations shake the very foundations of normalcy in music, or any other medium for that matter. An array of horns, strings and keys serve an atonal purpose on the seventeen-and-a-half-minute "Aghartha". The combination of sounds comes across like choruses of demonic locusts while the Satan-like, spoken-word vocals of Attila Csihar (MAYHEM) recite apocalyptic poetry. "Big Church" and "Hunting & Gathering (Cydonia)" are two rather depressive and haunting tracks which evoke images of rituals performed by cloak-wearing priests of some ancient deity. Not a single hook or ear-catching chorus can be found on either song, but that doesn't save the listener from being drawn into the depths of some shadowy vortex. The most musical track of the four, "Alice" features a very chilling bit of guitar from Australian mad scientist Oren Ambarchi that weaves in and around a horn section led by trombonist Julian Priester (SUN RA, JOHN COLTRANE, HERBIE HANCOCK). The way in which this song teeters between absolute darkness and the brink of light could be dangerously mind-altering to those listening too intently.

For a record-buying public who has long been spoon-fed a continual serving of flavors-of-the-week, SUNN O))) is an almost inconceivable reality. Brilliant in its imaginative non-conformity and boundless exploration, "Monoliths & Dimensions" is not an album for everyone, but one that nobody should be without. This will change the way you listen to music.