SunnO))), THE GRIMMROBE DEMOS

Double H Noise Industries, 2000; reissued by Southern Lord; available

Southern Lord edition: 4 tracks, 72:29

This has the honor of being the most recently recorded CD on this blog! The duo of Greg Anderson and Stephen O'Malley* were most heavily under Earth's spell on this album. Along with G. Stuart Dahlquist (making this a trio effort), these architects of doom set about reinterpreting EARTH 2, and somehow they succeeded in making an interesting album. Well, perhaps this really was meant to be a demo, but who cares? "Black Wedding", "Defeating: Earth's Gravity", and "Dylan Carlson" (obviously named in tribute to Earth's creative force) are massive slabs of blackened ambient. Bass levels are in the red, treble is almost nonexistent, and there are interesting dollops of synthesizer throughout. While there isn't a lot of variation in these tracks, fans of Earth et al will be enthralled. Southern Lord's edition tacks on "Grimm & Bear It"; it's not a radical departure from the album proper, but it's definitely more lo-fi and gritty. SunnO)))'s later masterpieces** make this pale in comparison, but many bands have had much weaker debuts. It's essential for a drone-doom collection, but not likely to convert anyone to the cause. Also worth seeking are Pentemple (essentially SunnO))) plus Sin-Nanna, Oren Ambarchi, and Attila Csihar) and Teeth Of Lions Rule The Divine (SunnO))) plus Justin Greaves and Lee Dorrian).

*They were previously involved in bands such as Engine Kid, Goatsnake, Burning Witch, and Thorr's Hammer; later, they would also be part (individually) of Ascend, Burial Chamber Trio, Gravetemple, and Khanate.

**The most recent, MONOLITHS & DIMENSIONS, is particularly stunning; ditto WHITE 1, WHITE 2, and the black metal-influenced BLACK ONE.