sunn O)))

With their songs’ slow-motion riffs and thick layers of feedback and distortion, sunn O))) operate at a fog-strewn intersection between experimental music and doom metal at its doomiest. Aptly named after an amplifier, the band formed in Seattle in 1998 by Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson, veterans of underground metal acts such as Burning Witch and Goatsnake. On early releases like 2002’s Flight of the Behemoth, the duo developed a sound that was both enthralling and bruising. This template also proved to be surprisingly flexible over the next two decades, with O’Malley and Anderson incorporating electronics, strings, brass, and other instruments into their music alongside their very loud guitars. They also combined forces with vocalists such as Mayhem’s Attila Csihar and—on the 2014 collaborative album Soused—avant-rock icon Scott Walker. As foreboding as their music may sometimes seem, sunn O))) brandish a wry sense of humor, too, which is evident in their choice of druid-style robes for onstage wear and the title of 2019’s punishing yet oddly serene Life Metal. SUNN O))) cover art: No. 64{Untitled}, 1960 by Mark Rothko © 1998 Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher Rothko / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York