Monoliths & Dimensions
Encyclopedia
Monoliths & Dimensions is the seventh studio album by the avant-garde
drone doom
band Sunn O)))
. The album was created and recorded over a period of two years and features the collaborations of composer Eyvind Kang
, Australian guitar player Oren Ambarchi
, Hungarian vocalist Attila Csihar
, Dylan Carlson
from the drone band Earth
, and trombonists Julian Priester
and Stuart Dempster
. There's also an upright bass trio; French and English horns; harp and flute duo; piano, brass, reed, and string ensembles; and a Viennese woman's choir led by Persian vocalist Jessika Kenney.
However, the band said, "The album is not Sunn O))) with strings or metal-meets-orchestra material." The band took an approach concentrating on more of allusion toward the timbre
of feedback and the instruments involved, so the piece is really illusory, beautiful and not entirely linear, stating, "[The end product is] the most musical piece we’ve done, and also the heaviest, [most] powerful, and most abstract set of chords we’ve laid to tape."
When speaking at the launch of Monoliths & Dimensions Stephen O'Malley told Alex Templeton-Ward
that the album was "like a prism ……our music is the white light going in, a lot of the colour comes out the other side through the amazing arrangements and personalities of the guest performers and core collaborators… I think the main topic of this album is elaboration, expansion and prismatic detail. The source of that detail is inherent in the sounds of the guitars and the notes of those arrangements."
The final song, titled "Alice", is a dedication to the late Alice Coltrane
.
, which assigns a normalized
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average
score of 88, based on 16 reviews.
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
drone doom
Drone metal
Drone metal is a style of heavy metal that melds the slow tempos and heaviness of doom metal with the long-duration tones of drone music...
band Sunn O)))
Sunn O)))
Sunn O))) is an American doom metal band known for its synthesis of diverse genres including drone, ambient, noise, and black metal. Supported by a varying cast of collaborators, the band has two core members: Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson .-History:Sunn O))) is named after the Sunn...
. The album was created and recorded over a period of two years and features the collaborations of composer Eyvind Kang
Eyvind Kang
Eyvindur Kang , only child of Charles Shin-Chul Kang and Kristjana Gunnars, is an American composer, violinist, tuba, and erhu player...
, Australian guitar player Oren Ambarchi
Oren Ambarchi
Oren Ambarchi is a multi-instrumentalist who in major plays electric guitar and drums, with longstanding interests in transcending conventional instrumental approaches. He was born in Sydney, Australia in 1969 to a Jewish family originally from Iraq....
, Hungarian vocalist Attila Csihar
Attila Csihar
Attila Csihar , also sometimes known as Void, is a Hungarian black metal vocalist, best known for his vocal work on the album De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas by Mayhem. Author Ian Christe describes his vocals as "operatic."-Biography:...
, Dylan Carlson
Dylan Carlson
Dylan Carlson is the lead guitarist, lead singer, and only constant member of the Drone doom group Earth.Carlson was born in Seattle, Washington, United States. His father worked for the Department of Defense, and, as a result, as a child he moved quite frequently, living in Philadelphia, Texas,...
from the drone band Earth
Earth (band)
Earth is an American musical group based in Seattle, Washington, formed in 1989 and led by guitarist Dylan Carlson.Earth's music is nearly all instrumental, and can be divided into two distinct stages...
, and trombonists Julian Priester
Julian Priester
Julian Priester is an American jazz trombonist and composer.He has played with many artists including Sun Ra, Max Roach, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane and Herbie Hancock.-Biography:...
and Stuart Dempster
Stuart Dempster
Stuart Dempster is a trombonist, didjeridu player, improvisor, and composer.-Biography:After Dempster completed his studies at San Francisco State College, he was appointed assistant professor at the California State College at Hayward, and instructor at the San Francisco Conservatory...
. There's also an upright bass trio; French and English horns; harp and flute duo; piano, brass, reed, and string ensembles; and a Viennese woman's choir led by Persian vocalist Jessika Kenney.
However, the band said, "The album is not Sunn O))) with strings or metal-meets-orchestra material." The band took an approach concentrating on more of allusion toward the timbre
Timbre
In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices and musical instruments, such as string instruments, wind instruments, and percussion instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that determine the...
of feedback and the instruments involved, so the piece is really illusory, beautiful and not entirely linear, stating, "[The end product is] the most musical piece we’ve done, and also the heaviest, [most] powerful, and most abstract set of chords we’ve laid to tape."
When speaking at the launch of Monoliths & Dimensions Stephen O'Malley told Alex Templeton-Ward
Alex Templeton-Ward
Alex Templeton-Ward is an English musician, poet, artist, writer and film maker. Having worked for several publications including Vice magazine, Horse and Hound, The Field and Country Life, he is currently the editor of Livemusic.fm...
that the album was "like a prism ……our music is the white light going in, a lot of the colour comes out the other side through the amazing arrangements and personalities of the guest performers and core collaborators… I think the main topic of this album is elaboration, expansion and prismatic detail. The source of that detail is inherent in the sounds of the guitars and the notes of those arrangements."
The final song, titled "Alice", is a dedication to the late Alice Coltrane
Alice Coltrane
Alice Coltrane, née McLeod was an American jazz pianist, organist, harpist, and composer.-Biography:...
.
Reception
Initial critical response to Monoliths & Dimensions was very positive. At MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a normalized
Standard score
In statistics, a standard score indicates how many standard deviations an observation or datum is above or below the mean. It is a dimensionless quantity derived by subtracting the population mean from an individual raw score and then dividing the difference by the population standard deviation...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
score of 88, based on 16 reviews.
Track listing
All songs written by Anderson and O'Malley.- "Aghartha" - 17:34
- "Big Church [Megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért]" - 9:43
- "Hunting&Gathering (Cydonia)" - 10:02
- "Alice" - 16:21
Production
- Produced By Mell Dettmer & Randall Dunn
- Engineers: Mell Dettmer, Randall Dunn, Nik Hummer and Armin Steiner
- Assistant Engineer: Floyd Reitsman
- Mastering: Mell Dettmer
- Cover art: "Out-of-round X" (1999) by Richard SerraRichard SerraRichard Serra is an American minimalist sculptor and video artist known for working with large-scale assemblies of sheet metal. Serra was involved in the Process Art Movement.-Early life and education:...
Personnel
- Stephen O'MalleyStephen O'MalleyStephen O'Malley is a musician, predominantly a guitarist, producer and composer from Seattle, Washington who has conceptualized and participated in numerous drone doom, death/doom, and experimental music groups....
: Electric Guitars - Greg AndersonGreg Anderson (musician)Greg Anderson is an American musician and co-founder of Southern Lord Records.Anderson is the guitarist in the doom/stoner metal outfit Goatsnake, but is also well known for his collaborations with Stephen O'Malley....
: Electric Guitars, Electric Bass Guitar - Attila CsiharAttila CsiharAttila Csihar , also sometimes known as Void, is a Hungarian black metal vocalist, best known for his vocal work on the album De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas by Mayhem. Author Ian Christe describes his vocals as "operatic."-Biography:...
: Voices - Oren AmbarchiOren AmbarchiOren Ambarchi is a multi-instrumentalist who in major plays electric guitar and drums, with longstanding interests in transcending conventional instrumental approaches. He was born in Sydney, Australia in 1969 to a Jewish family originally from Iraq....
: Electric Guitars, Motorized Cymbal, Oscillator, Guitar Effects, Gong, Wolf Log - Eyvind KangEyvind KangEyvindur Kang , only child of Charles Shin-Chul Kang and Kristjana Gunnars, is an American composer, violinist, tuba, and erhu player...
: Viola; Choir, Brass, & String Arrangements - Dylan CarlsonDylan CarlsonDylan Carlson is the lead guitarist, lead singer, and only constant member of the Drone doom group Earth.Carlson was born in Seattle, Washington, United States. His father worked for the Department of Defense, and, as a result, as a child he moved quite frequently, living in Philadelphia, Texas,...
: Electric Guitars, Choir Arrangements (inspired by) - Julian PriesterJulian PriesterJulian Priester is an American jazz trombonist and composer.He has played with many artists including Sun Ra, Max Roach, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane and Herbie Hancock.-Biography:...
: Trombone & Conch Shell - Stuart DempsterStuart DempsterStuart Dempster is a trombonist, didjeridu player, improvisor, and composer.-Biography:After Dempster completed his studies at San Francisco State College, he was appointed assistant professor at the California State College at Hayward, and instructor at the San Francisco Conservatory...
: Trombone, Conch Shell, Dung Chen - Mell Dettmer: Tubular Bells, Hydrophone
- Timb Harris: Violin
- Jessika Kenney: Lead Alto & Soprano Choir; Choir, Brass, and String Arrangements
- Tim Smolens: Double Bass
- Moriah Neils: Double Bass
- Keith Lowe: Double Bass
- Daniel Menche: Male Choir
- William Herzog: Male Choir, Electric Tamboura
- Steve Moore: Trombone, Organ, Korg MS20, Roland Juno, Conch Shell, Dung Chen
- Brad Mowen: Concert Bass Drum, Percussion, Man Choir
- Joe Preston: Man Choir
- Rex Ritter: Korg MS20, Moog Voyager
- Hans Teuber: Clarinet, Bass Clarinet, Alto Flute
- Cuong Vu: Trumpet
- Tony Moore: Trumpet
- Melissa Walsh: Harp
- Taina Karr: English Horn, Oboe
- Eric Walton: Piano
- Josiah Boothby: French Horn
- Jutta Sierlinger: Choir Alto
- Angela Kiemayer: Choir Alto
- Varena Bodem: Choir Alto
- Katharina Einsiedl: Choir Soprano/Alto
- Stephanie Pfeffer: Choir Soprano/Alto
- Loma Döring: Choir Soprano/Alto
Release history
| Region | Date | Label |
|---|---|---|
| Europe | May 18, 2009 | Southern Lord Southern Lord Records Southern Lord is an American record label that was founded in 1998 by Greg Anderson, specializing in what could broadly be classified as experimental heavy metal, particularly the doom metal, stoner rock, and drone metal sub-genres. Some of the more notable artists on the label include Earth, Om,... |
| North America | May 26, 2009 | Southern Lord |
| Asia and Australia | TBA | Southern Lord |