SUNN O))) + EAGLE TWIN 04.02.10

SUNN O))) are from those groups that you either love or hate them. Many are those who perceive their music as simple annoying, serious noise, as if you had left the guitar on right next to the amplifier, others find in them a “something” that attracts us. On the occasion of their recent release 'Monoliths & Dimensions' they have headlined a world tour that included the Iberian Peninsula.

On the way to the auditorium, the city of Barcelona was wrapped in black clouds discharging drizzle and a Siberian air, the ideal atmosphere to get into the environment before a Drone concert.

Those in charge of heating up the night were EAGLE TWIN, a group formed by two Americans who practice Doom-Sludge in the old way, reminding us at times of groups like ISIS or PELICAN. In 50 minutes they presented us with their debut album 'The Unkindness of Crows', which I couldn't say exactly on the set-list because they went on stage and played without any rest until the end of their acting time. Even being only two components, Gentry Densley (vocals and guitar) and Tyler Smith (drums), they did a magnificent performance, on the one hand tuning the guitar in such a way that the bass part was supplied and, on the other, being so hard and heavy his hits on the drums that the drumsticks suffered, ending up broken. Quite a discovery to take into account.

It's time for SUNN O))). Not a year ago the group formed by Stephen O´Malley and Greg Anderson had performed in Barcelona at Primavera Sound, and two years earlier at Sonar, being a success among audiences outside the sounds at both festivals metalheads, and it showed. The room was packed, full of diverse people, eager to see the Americans live. As is customary in them, their live shows are characterized by the amount of smoke, monk-like clothing, and the volume of the instruments, of which we were able to get an idea before starting the performance because a barrier had been formed on stage of amplifiers. On this occasion, and due to the collaboration of Attila Csihar (MAYHEM, ABORYM, among others) on his latest album, the duet became a quartet by the, let's call him, the aforementioned character and Steve Moore (EARTH, STEB MO).

First of all, everyone except Attila came out on stage and, without saying a word, they started playing “Aghartha”. As is normal for them, their concerts are without a previous set-list and improvising the songs. After a while Attila appeared, expected by everyone, who in a short time became the protagonist of the night. With more smoke than when you make a submarine and forbidding us to use flash when taking pictures, little by little his music left us in a trance. The group, no matter how much they improvise, having a scheme to follow, coordinates very well when offering the show to create the atmosphere that their music asks for, while making slow and heavy movements, passing the bottle of wine as if they were doing a ritual, and playing as serious as possible so that the reputation they have formed is carried out. As I mentioned before, the protagonist of the night was Attila, and it is no wonder! He is quite a showman. Apart from being an ideal singer for this type of music, with his deep and putrid voice, he delighted us with Buddhist songs, occasionally making the famous “two voices”. On the part of Steve Moore, he dedicated himself to playing the keyboard and mixing the music with the recorded samplers, apart from playing four notes on the trombone.

Another of the songs that could be recognized was 'Chooms', which became somewhat monotonous after spending about 20 minutes playing the same note. They took advantage of this moment for Attila to leave the stage and reappear with a suit like the Statue of Liberty, with a crown that seemed to be made with tree branches, a rather anguishing mask, giving the effect of melted, a suit made with metal plates without any stylistic sense and, most shockingly, the laser gloves. Taking advantage of the new call of attention from the attendees, they performed 'Big Church (Megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért)' which, between the title, and Attila's sonic Martian suit, offered a most striking concert finale.

Seeing these guys in concert is quite an adventure. Firstly, due to the fact that the music they play is not something very happy or sad, they are simply riffs (there are hardly any influences from their first albums where we could find Black metal influences) that penetrate to the depths of your body , and second, you never know if you will manage to hold the five or six songs that they have time to play, you do not know if you will achieve a trance with their music or you will get bored. What usually happens is a trance with ups and downs in which at times the rest of the world disappears, and in others you come back and laugh at all the performance they do to make the live show credible. Personally, I had never been able to listen to an entire album of theirs, they were always single songs and when the day or the situation called for it, but the hour and a half of concerts they offered and in the front row, it seemed to me little. Of course, and despite wearing earplugs, the ears were resentful of the volume that made your entire body vibrate to the sound of the riffs, a very strange sensation that lasts hours after its completion. As with their music, SUNN O))) are a world apart and in their live shows they make it clear.