For anyone interested in music that works both as art and an intensely new exciting experience - this is easily the best album that has come out this year.
The most compelling – and important – avant garde record since Love's Secret Domain by Coil.
Monoliths ends up standing tall not only as a watershed moment in metal, but also as a 21st-century artistic statement in general. And it may just be sunn 0))))’s strongest album to date.
Due to the distinctly avant garde nature of Sunn O))), this is likely the kind of album that many people will buy, listen to for five minutes (which as far as Sunn O))) are concerned relates to one note) and then display in their record collection as a mark of their awesome credibility.
Monoliths and Dimensions succeeds because it is the sound of a new music formed from the ashen forge of drone, rock, and black metal. In its seemingly impenetrable, slow, spacious, heavy sonic darkness, this is the new way forward for not only Sunn 0))), but for extreme rock music and possibly even what's left of the avant-garde. Brilliant.
In spite of their addition of thickening and texturing agents to the mix, Monoliths & Dimensions is for a select crowd. The only difference now is that Sunn O))) can begin to appeal to the more generalized music fan, and not just their loyal following of metalfeeders content to wallow in the muck.
Monoliths & Dimensions feels like a testament from a deep pit of despair with nowhere to look but up. They might never get out but the hope is in the fact that everyone involved is in the exact same spot.
The album is a revelation for the band, showing their many faces. They are not just a doom band. They are a band of spirituality, a band of wishing and daydreaming. Monoliths & Dimensions flashes glimmers of hope among all the doom, like a distant light at the end of the tunnel.
Monoliths & Dimensions is a dark, complex work from a band that will not appeal to everyone. Anderson and O’Malley are working with heady topics, making a listen to this album much akin to the experience of sitting through Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew. There is nothing tongue-in-cheek here, only some serious doom.
With nearly three dozen guest musicians chipping in, the aptly titled Monoliths and Dimensions is far and away the band’s most ambitious project to date, but typically, the many guest contributions are so subtly performed and arranged, not to mention entirely in keeping with O’Malley’s and Anderson’s collective vision, that we hardly notice.
I feel like I shouldn't be listening to this, it's dragging me straight to the depths of hell 💀💀 god help
I've heard Black One by Sunno before which I really enjoyed, that's a certified classic, especially It Took The Night To Believe. But I've never checked out their other stuff, so here I am.
Monoliths and Dimensions is an extremely dark record with ritualistic themes and mysterious vocals. The drones are pretty nice on here, although these tracks really don't do a great deal for me ... read more
Dark and twisted soundscapes from dimensional voids and monoliths. It goes all the way from sinister and dreadful to tranquil and beautiful, and all the while you are continuously floating, through a deep, black nothing.
Favourite track: Alice
I'm sorry this is corny as fuck, how are you going to make a Drone Metal album like this and have a super mysterious and deep voiced man basically humming his way through a 53 minute album and not do anything else to make this somewhat interesting. I get it Drone music isn't supposed to be all that exciting, but what is the concept here I am supposed to be looking for? What is the point of this project and why are people going absolutely ham over it? Sure it is dark and mysterious, but is ... read more
Sunn O))) has left a good first impression on me with this record. I'm intrigued into checking out more doom metal because of it. "Monolith" is a good way to describe how this thing sounds, larger than life. Absolutely pummeling record.
A damn good drone metal record. Insanely heavy and dark, it feels like being trapped in a black hole. The eerie vocals elevate it evem higher. Better than Black One? Possibly
1 | Aghartha 17:34 | 84 |
2 | Big Church [megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért] 9:43 | 83 |
3 | Hunting & Gathering (Cydonia) 10:02 | 85 |
4 | Alice 16:21 | 90 |
#3 | / | Tiny Mix Tapes |
#19 | / | MOJO |
#22 | / | Cokemachineglow |
#24 | / | No Ripcord |
#25 | / | Uncut |
#31 | / | Pitchfork |
#34 | / | Drowned in Sound |
#36 | / | musicOMH |
#41 | / | Treble |