Sunn O))) & Scott Walker - Soused
Critic Score
Based on 39 reviews
2014 Ratings: #55 / 1042
Year End Rank: #39
User Score
Based on 200 ratings
2014 Rank: #293
Liked by 20 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
The Line of Best Fit
This is Sunn O))) at their most playful, and Scott at his most enjoyable.
100
The Guardian

Soused is surprisingly melodic, Sunn O))) provide a menacing but rich backdrop to Walker’s distinctive baritone.

100
God Is in the TV

All bases are covered on this, the hugest, most monolithic album of 2014.

100
A.V. Club

Pairing the somber and overpowering baritone bravado of Walker—not to mention his mad-poet mystique—with the subterranean thunder and tumbling towers of holy-hell from the core duo of Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson seemed like the perfect marriage. And it is.

90
AllMusic

Walker's and Sunn 0)))'s individual identities, while always on full display, are brought jaggedly and thunderously together in an enthralling recording that equals the sum of its mighty parts.

90
Tiny Mix Tapes
Although occasional representational sounds intrude on some tracks, it is Sunn O)))’s glacial, thundering voice that carries Walker’s conceptual project forward.
90
Drowned in Sound
Out of all the stellar releases in 2014, this collaboration is the one which is most likely to stay with us all, and the one from which the most new conclusions will be made as years in the future, we’re still dissecting and seeking to understand the stories and emotions captured therein.
85
Under the Radar

This is more than an album—this is an exemplar of contemporary boundary-pushing art to be consumed slowly and patiently.

80
The Independent

Given how far out Scott Walker had stepped with 2012’s complex and challenging, allusive and abusive Bish Bosch, the five tracks which comprise Soused seem almost mainstream by comparison.

80
The Observer
The resulting album is rich in imagination, and – at times, most notably on Bull and Brando – surprisingly accessible.
80
Mojo
A powerful mix of dramatic, slow-moving sound and Walker melodies and narratives.
80
Uncut

The result is the most accessible Scott Walker album since Tilt, perhaps even longer.

80
Clash

Latin lamentations and oscillating interferences spin sinful tales of transgression and violation, with a flagellating undercurrent of austerity, to create an uneasy, intuitive, idiosyncratic masterpiece.

80
Q Magazine

Soused remains a distinctly perverse pleasure.

80
musicOMH
There are numerous highlights to be found across these songs but Herod 2014 and Fetish stand out in particular.
80
Exclaim!

Soused is a powerful and arresting album that will appeal to fans of Scott Walker's later work.

80
The Skinny
O’Malley’s guitars are utterly colossal, the feedback alone towers with portent while Walker’s voice is still wracked with perfectly pitched anguish and torment.
80
Resident Advisor
The combination of these two forces is both inspired and insane.
80
Sputnikmusic
”Soused” is an effort by two polar opposites of the musical spectrum, an album created by the most absurd matchup possibly known to man. Absurd as it is, it succeeds in its intention; and for that, it is definitely one of the most innovative albums to be released this year.
80
DIY
It is a work that demonstrates how sheer and utter horror can be turned into music, and while that may not appeal to the majority, the fact that someone is brave enough to do it is really quite brilliant.
80
FACT Magazine

Soused may not be the best record either Sunn O))) or Walker have released in the last few years ... but it’s still an endlessly compelling work, the match between singular solo artist and the pivotal group every bit as thrilling as you’d expect.

80
NME

‘Soused’ manages to feel understated and ripe for listeners to engage with entirely on their own terms.

80
No Ripcord

Soused, with its impenetrable construct and heavy ambition, delivers on many fronts, most notable of which is in its thoughtfully composed immensity.

74
Pitchfork

Their collaborative LP Soused feels more like an event and an experience than a vital, persevering record for either party involved. It’s good and, at times, completely absorbing, especially when Walker and the amplifiers seem to be fighting on the same side of a great battle.

70
Slant Magazine
Another album which, if not exactly pleasant to listen to, is at least experimentally interesting, continuing Walker's aggressive program of abrasive sonic assaults.
70
Classic Rock

Dense and demanding, Soused will not be topping the album charts. But it is the kind of obliteratingly intense, glamorously weird avant-metal epic that Lou Reed and Metallica never made.

70
Rolling Stone

This teaming of a gifted poet and bruising metalheads is like Lou Reed and Metallica's Lulu – but about half as long, and about twice as heavy.​

60
The Needle Drop

While Sunn o))) and Scott Walker make the effort to accommodate one another on this new collaborative album, the chemistry isn't as explosive as I had hoped.

60
PopMatters

There’s simply not enough sonic variation going on here to make Soused nearly as compelling as its respective creators’ past efforts.

60
The Arts Desk

For Sunn O))), there was more breathing space on their recent collaboration with Ulver than on Soused. For Walker, after Bish Bosch, it’s what has become business as usual.

58
Consequence of Sound
It’s a unique recording, a shocking, exciting collaboration performed in full faith. But it too often fails to be more than the sum of its parts.
coloncancer
87

this is like if swans and xiu xiu had a baby

Brihongol
86

OPERA METAL 👏 👏
OPETA METAL 👏 👏

Felix_96
70

7/10

good

Fav tracks: Brando, Herod 2014, Fetish, Lullaby

Felix_96
70

7/10

good

Fav tracks: Brando, Herod 2014, Fetish, Lullaby

QDOERTY
73

I think he should’ve stopped at Bish Bosch

prettymf
80

spooky ass album

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Track List

1Brando
8:45
63
2Herod 2014
12:02
62
3Bull
9:23
62
4Fetish
9:09
60
5Lullaby
9:24
60
Total Length: 48 minutes
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Added on: July 17, 2014