Sunn O))) / Prospect Buildings / Bristol
I love Sunn O))), one of my favourite bands, and so this was a tour I was not going to miss. Based in Nottingham, I could have gone to see them closer to home at the O2 Institute in Birmingham, but for me, a band needs a special environment, and so I headed out on a three hour drive to Bristol and the wonderful, industrial warehouse venue that is the Prospect Building. With its ginormous gantry crane used as a lighting rig, it was the perfect space to experience Sunn O))). And I do mean experience, not just listen to….
But first in support we have something special. Sunn O))) often select support acts that are a complete contrast to what will follow. Last time I saw them, they were joined by Jesse Sykes, from the band Sweet Hereafter, along with Bill Herzog and Phil Wandscher. All three on guitar, they deliver a stunning set of gothic country.
And tonight is no different, with Twin Oscillations, who are Amber Webber and Stephen McBean mainstay members of the Canadian psychedelic rock pioneers Black Mountain. With Amber on vocals and Stephen on guitar they delivered an intimate set. Stephen uses the pedals to great effect, creating a deep, dark and moody soundscape of doom metal like tones, as a dramatic backstop to Ambers delicate vocals. The set is raw, emotional and powerful.
The delivery is minimalist, no rushing round the stage, just calm, thoughtful presentation. It kind of reminds you that sometimes the simplest setup, delivers the most sensational results, that is so true of Amber and Stephen.
Setlist
Unavailable
Sunn O))) are an American drone metal band formed in 1998 in Seattle, Washington state. Sunn O))) are Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson. Their debut album ØØ Void was released in 2000, and 2026 has seen the release of their tenth studio album, the self titled “Sunn O)))” and their first on the SubPop label.
Known for their distinctive visual style and slow, heavy sound, which blends diverse genres including doom metal, drone, black metal, and dark ambient, as well as for their extremely loud live performances. They use slow tempos, distorted guitars, and alternative tunings, and core to their sound is the low register and frequencies they use, often tuning as low as Drop A. Combined with feedback, it creates a wall of sound, and monolithic soundscapes and eerie atmospheres.
Indeed, the signs outside the venue tell you what you need to know ‘we strongly recommend patrons use earplugs’ and the big bags of squidgy plugs at the ticket checkpoints are dipped into as punters file past.
The stage is already set before Amber & Stephen’s set, and it’s a guitar nerds wet dream. Set in a semi-circular pattern and double stacked speaker cabinets. Atop each are two vintage valve guitar amps. With more speakers and amps stacked to the sides, I counted 18 amps for the two guitarists !
The lights in the Crane room drop and the smoke billows out from the sides of the stage. And it keeps on coming ! Not just the stage, but the entire room fills with white smoke, creating an eerie scene, silhouetting the stacked amps.
The PA system bursts into life with their iconic entrance recording, the 1986 Venom Banter Tape recording (see footnote below). Out into the misty gloom step Stephen and Greg, dressed as usual in their black hooded robes.
I’ll admit, Sunn O))) are musical Marmite – I think you either love em’ or hate ‘em. For me, it was love at first listen. And then the first chords rip through the air – long deep and violently loud. They reverberate and resonate round the room. Stephen & Greg don’t move much through the set, turning to face each other now and then, it has a mystical, almost spiritual air to the performance.
As I said in the opening lines, you don’t just come to a Sunn O))) show to listen to them, but to be immersed in the sound. You feel their music as well as listen to it, and visually the misty eerie scene is somehow hypnotic. Sunn O))) impact all your senses as it resonates through your whole body.
The tracks merge from one to another, with Stephen & Greg raising arms in a cult ceremonial fashion to highlight them junction from one to the other.
To the Marmite haters, the sound feel impenetrable, but if you give it time, the listener can start to identify nuances in the soundscape, tonal and tuning changes that add life and vitality to the sound, and coupled with the striking visuals, it makes for an engaging and enticing sensory experience.
Standing at the back, the see of heads takes on a spooky feel, silhouetted against the white stage lights and shrouded in mist, its like a scene from a movie, like the ghost army rising from the sea in Lord of the Rings, summoned by the strange tones emanating from the stage.
I stand mesmerised by the performance, it takes on an almost meditative feel, and somehow the intense volume becomes part of the reality around us, bathing us, not assaulting us. There is an intense beauty to a Sunn O))) performance and the time seems to slip away so quickly.
As the performance draws to a close, Stephen & Greg slowly and silently raise their guitars, like a gesture of devotion and the crowd erupt in cheers and applause. Stepping into the evening light, ears, head and senses tingling, it feels like a violent sonic cleansing – There is a beauty in its mad intensity and I’m here for it!
Setlist
Raise the Chalice
Everett Moses
Point & Shoot
Novae
Glory Black
Frost
Venom Banter Tape – recorded in 1986 the Venom Banter Tape is a legendary bootleg of hilarious stage banter from the British heavy metal band Venom. It was recorded on April 2, 1986, at City Gardens in Trenton, New Jersey, and later pressed into a cult-classic 7-inch single by Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore.
Venom headlined a notably bizarre and mismatched bill with Rollins-era Black Flag at the punk-rock, and with Black Flag's roadie, Joe Cole running sound and working the tape machine, he recorded Venom's set. Later, he stripped away all of the actual songs, leaving only the knuckle-dragging, profanity-laced, and unintentionally hilarious between-song stage rants by Venom frontman Conrad "Cronos" Lant.
