“Ever breathe a frequency?” asks a selection of Sunn O)))‘s merch in the entrance to London’s Troxy. If there were ever a band to answer that question they’re certainly the band to do so, notorious for their loud, slow, droning guitars performed in front of an array of amps any stadium filling rock band would be envious of – they put on a performance you can feel as intensely as you can hear.
Opening the night is Black Mountain, performing as a duo of Amber Webber and Stephen McBean under the name Black Mountain Twin Oscillations. They’re sort of the antithesis of the headliners, much quieter, much more reliance on dynamics to perform a set of stunning, emotionally tense, music. While there are electronic elements to the set, a drum machine with a bit of bass behind it, the main driving force is the guitar and the vocals and, despite being much quieter than the later set, the crowd is silently absorbing every breath.
After a surreal near ten minutes of playback of the Venom 1986 Trenton Banter bootleg, cut up only by repeated bursts of smoke and changing lights, Sunn O))) take to the stage, silently picking up their guitars and raising their hands above their heads building up the final tension before the audience is pummelled by an incredible wave of droning decibels. A wall of sludge instantly fills the Troxy, fixtures shake and all other sounds are lost within the drone. There are moments of melody, admittedly largely created via dissonant notes dragged out and drenched in feedback, but a lot of it is just taking a single element and pushing it out as long as possible, seeing what the physical limit is, as such while there is a setlist it’d be a challenge for even the most hardened fan to tell you what was played without the band sharing it, each song blending between each other, a near constant assault of doom.
While the music is the main element I think it’s fair to say that their crew help keep things interesting – the lighting really helps create a tense feel in the venue, smoke pouring out near constantly with uplighting at the front of the stage and the stacks themselves backlit, the colour and intensity helping create a real feeling that a fire is raging behind the sound. Walking around the venue the intense feeling that the wall of amps creates holds up well, no one is really safe. As much an atmospheric sound bath as it is a gig, Sunn O))) somehow flitter between creating something that you could easily drift off to in a comfortable seat (no doubt influencing your dreams) while also causing some people to throw up (it happened to someone on my row last time I saw them!) – they put on an excellent performance full of drama while also reaching ungodly volumes.
