Sunn O))) - ØØ Void (2000) + Dømkirke (2008)

Related:
KTL - 2 (2007)
Ascend - Ample Fire Within (2008)

By request, here's some Sunn O))). I couldn't decide on just one album, so fuck it, we're doing two.

Their first official LP, ØØ Void can be thought of as the Sunn O))) manifesto. In four songs and just under an hour, ØØ Void lays out the sonic foundation upon which the band would build virtually all of its output -- absurdly heavy, downtuned guitars playing sinister riffs, over and over, very slowly, and at times lapsing into extended sections of pure, torso-rumbling, low-frequency feedback, all percussion-free. At a proper volume ("Maximum Volume Yields Maximum Results" reads the sleeve), it seems to take on a physical presence in the room. It's the evil flipside to the transcendent Earth 2, an album along with which ØØ Void forms the twin peaks of pure drone-doom records.

Track listing:
1. Richard
2. NN O)))
3. Rabbit's Revenge
4. Ra at Dusk

A spectral spirit kingdom rise
In stormscreens
Covered by eyes
Night emits its shadow
There is no difference
Between the ravens
They have come for me
They will come to me

Next: Although it's a live album, Dømkirke is, to me, one of the band's most essential recordings. Recorded in a Norwegian cathedral -- and in the wake of the massive artistic breakthrough that was Black One -- Dømkirke featured all-new material powered by (in addition to the usual wall of guitars) pipe organ, electronics, and powerful, at times operatic vocals from Attila Csihar of Mayhem. A crushing, enveloping, ritualistic performance.

Track listing:
1. Why Dost Thou Hide Thyself in Clouds?
2. Cannon
3. Cymatics
4. Masks the Ætmospheres

Out from the chambers
And horizons will open for me
The face of the earth
Will be to know black silence
For I saw them march for the lights