Seattle drone/experimental metal group Sunn O))) have announced that they will be releasing a live session recorded at the BBC’s Maida Vale studios. The session, titled Metta, Benevolence. BBC 6Music: Live On The Invitation of Mary Anne Hobbs will be unveiled on January 28th, 2022 via Southern Lord Recordings. The album will be available on both CD and vinyl and can be pre-ordered here.
sunn O))) BBC 6Live announcement!! @pitchfork https://t.co/qXNc7BuOP6@avonhausswolff @IdeologicOrgan @BBC6Music
— Southern Lord (@TwatterLord) November 3, 2021
The session consists of three tracks and was recorded in Studio 4 at BBC’s Maida Vale following a 2019 UK tour, which concluded with a sold-out show at Roundhouse in London. The songs in the session are derived from the band’s eighth and ninth studio albums, Life Metal and Pyroclasts, both released in 2019 and produced by the legendary Steve Albini, known for his work with Nirvana and The Jesus Lizard.
The core members of the group, Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson are accompanied by a whole host of musicians on this session, according to a recent press release. This includes the likes of long-time Sunn O))) collaborator and keyboardist Tos Nieuwenhuizen, trombonist Stephen Moore, bassist Tim Midyett and prolific Swedish composer and singer-songwriter Anna von Hausswolf, who has worked alongside bands such as Swans and Wolves In The Throne Room. Many of the other personnel mentioned, including Midyett and Moore, performed on the studio recordings of the band’s last two albums.
The dense and ominous sound of Sunn O))) is unmistakeable, and the group have truly established themselves as giants of experimental metal over the years, having released nine full-length albums since 2000. These last two albums, Pyroclasts and Life Metal, maintain the same feedback-heavy, fuzz-laden sound that Sunn O))) have always been known for, but there is a heavy emphasis on improvisation and free-form rhythm within these pieces, prioritising texture and pure experimentation above all else. The group’s musical catalogue, including these last two albums, is available on all streaming services, and physical media can be found here.
Yesterday, on the 3rd of November, Southern Lord Recordings shared a five-minute-long teaser for the upcoming live session, featuring an excerpt of the song “Troubled Air”. This can be viewed here. The band also has an official European merch store, which features some vinyl variants that are completely EU exclusive.
For other information regarding Sunn O))), a catalogue of the band’s live recordings can be found on Bandcamp. You can visit the band’s website here.
Shown below is the track list for the forthcoming session.
1). “Pyroclasts F”
2). “Pyroclasts C#”
3). “Troubled Air”
