Sunn O)))

Let’s get it straight: Sunn O))) is pronounced “sun,” not “sun-oh” or “sun-zero” or any other way. Accessibility, however, has never been an objective for Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson, the core of the band, so a complicated moniker is just the surface of the group’s eccentricities. Named in tribute to ’90s drone-metal band Earth—and packing a similar sound—Sunn O))) stages theatrical shows involving thick, machine-created fog and hooded, cult-style robes (dubbed “grim robes” by the band). It’s pure metal-nerd cheese, though the towering stacks of amps and the feedback-laden, eardrum-collapsing guitar certainly grounds it in something much deeper (and heavier).

Updated 08/02/2009