Om
Pilgrimage
Southern Lord (2007)
Sleep was great. High on Fire is pretty good. But Om consistently impresses me, and seems to gain momentum with every album. Om seems to be getting closer than ever to carving out its own unique corner in the psychedelic genre that I could simply call "zen doom." These days "hypnotic" is a much-overused word in review writing, especially since … Read more
Oren Ambarchi
In the Pendulums Embrace
Southern Lord (2007)
When I hear this album I smell dust. It might not make sense to you, or to me for that matter, but it is what it is. Some albums, particularly in the ambient vein, take me to strange places that can be either outside or inside. Oren Ambarchi takes me to the attic that I haven't been up to in … Read more
Orthodox
Gran Poder
Southern Lord (2006)
Spanish doom? Southern Lord's Orthodox might want to rethink their name - honestly. Sure, the black robes are spooky and all, but it's a lot easier to wear them all the time if you're Sunn0))). Los Angeles is warm, I know, but fucking Spain? It's got to be sweaty inside those things. I suppose if the prime directive is to … Read more
Pelican
Ephemeral
Southern Lord (2009)
I'll be honest. I hadn't really listened to Pelican all that much since City of Echoes was released in 2007. In fact, I think I gave that album two or three plays total; since then their discography has seen limited plays. I really have no logical explanation for my lack of listening. I think the "post-metal" craze got overblown and … Read more
Pelican
Forever Becoming
Southern Lord (2013)
It has been about four years since the release of What We All Come to Need, what was in my opinion the only weak moment in Pelican’s career. The Ataraxia/Taraxis EP, released in 2012, gave a first idea of the shape of things to come and now Forever Becoming has finally landed.Pelican was never a band that would stay in … Read more
Pelican
Nighttime Stories
Southern Lord (2019)
The passage of time signals many changes; life, death, birth – the cycle continues unabatingly, waiting for the next movement and giving no room for change. For Pelican, the six years since their last record, Forever Becoming, has seen many instances of life, death and birth and the passing of former Tusk member (a project also featuring members of Pelican) … Read more
Pelican
What We All Come to Need
Southern Lord (2009)
Pelican's new record What We All Come to Need is a gorgeous journey through sludge rock with some moments of beautiful calm. But does it hold your attention enough to be a repeated listen? I got into Pelican when I purchased 2005's The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw. Overall it was a great album, but few songs … Read more
Pentemple
0))) Presents...
Southern Lord (2008)
One of the latest Sunn 0))) incarnations goes by the name of Pentemple - an unholy alliance between the usual Sunn 0))) boys (Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson), ambient artist Oren Ambarchi, and black metal visionaries Attila Csihar and Sin Nanna (AKA Striborg). The Southern Lord website called the limited CD, an improvised live collaboration in Melbourne, Australia, a "blackened … Read more
Power Trip
Manifest Decimation
Southern Lord (2013)
Of all the sub-genres which seem to stay persistently strong over time, alongside youth crew, crossover thrash is one with some classic releases; Best Wishes (emphatically not Alpha Omega), Handle With Care, Born To Expire. These albums manage to successfully capture the complexity and experimentation of metal with the rawness and spirit of hardcore, forgoing the pomposity of the first … Read more
Sleep
Dopesmoker (Reissue)
Southern Lord (2012)
Imagine, if you will, that doom rock band Om and a still-young drone metal band Boris got together in a hallucinogen-induced haze one night. Their inevitable pothead lovechild would undoubtedly be doom/stoner outfit Sleep, as evidenced by their final album, Dopesmoker.Having been released at least four different times (with four different running times, not to mention two different names), this … Read more
Stebmo
Stebmo
Southern Lord (2008)
This is the first solo record from Steve Moore; no this is not the same Steve Moore that is half of the soundscape group Zombi, but rather this is the multi instrumentalist that one can hear and see with Earth since their "comeback" album Hex: Or Printing in the Infernal Method. Stebmo is Steve Moore's first solo album after working … Read more
Striborg
Nefaria
Southern Lord (2007)
When all else is said and done, I like my metal like I like my coffee: black, bottomless, and smelling like the inside of a cave. It doesn't need to be fancy. No cream, no sugar no artificial flavors to make it more palatable. Sparse arrangements with sparser production that sounds like it was recorded amongst the smoldering remnants of … Read more
Sunn 0)))
Black One
Southern Lord (2005)
This is the sound of being stalked by some unnamed horror that you are too afraid to turn around and see. The suspense builds and wanes and builds more to the harrowing climax leaving you with only the droning aftermath to contemplate that anxiety attack that you may have just experienced. What a deliciously terrifying opening to an album. Sunn … Read more
Sunn 0)))
Dømkirke
Southern Lord (2008)
Dømkirke is a live Sunn 0))) album recorded at Bergen Cathedral of Bergen, Norway as part of the Borealis Festival 2007. The twelfth-century cathedral was a perfect setting for the March 2007 performance that also featured Attlia Csihar on vocals, Steve Moore on pipe organ, and Lasse Marhaug on electronics. The double album was a vinyl-only release with absolutely stunning … Read more
Sunn 0)))
La Reh 012
Southern Lord (2014)
Long and arduous journeys can at times be a right of passage or ritual of progression or even metaphors for life in general, and the idea that this release marks my listening to SunnO))) for a mind-blowing almost 15 years (I bought The Grimm Robe demo from Aaron Turner at the Hydra Head table when day 1 of Hellfest 2000 … Read more
Sunn 0)))
Life Metal
Southern Lord (2019)
Experimental drone alchemists Sunn O))) have defined two decades of extreme music with their slow, dark offerings. Starting in the early ‘00s, the duo comprised of Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson proved to be the most talented disciple of Dylan Carlson’s early sonic investigations with Earth. In those early days the music of Sunn O))) was a cataclysmic experience, highlighted … Read more
Sunn 0)))
Monoliths & Dimensions
Southern Lord (2009)
Okay, I must say that Sunn 0))) lost me with Oracle, particularly after some mild disappointment in Altar. My eventual listening of Domkirke came quite a while after its release, but it did revive my interest in the band. Now, finally delivering a new studio album (it has been quite a while since their last studio album Black One), Sunn … Read more
Sunn 0))) & Boris
Altar
Southern Lord (2006)
Have you ever wondered what happens when two heavenly bodies get too close to each other? Usually in the scientific world, if the bodies are of equal size, density, mass, etc, they tear each other apart. If one body is larger than the other, the smaller can be devastated. In lucky situations, the two bodies will (sort of) equalize and … Read more
