So these Seattle drone metal weirdos have been doing their slow-motion thing since the late 90s, basically taking the heaviest amps they could find and seeing how glacially slow they could play. Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson started this whole thing as kind of a tribute to Earth, but they ended up creating something way more theatrical and ritual-like. The robes, the fog machines, the volume that could probably level a small building, it’s all part of the experience.
Monoliths & Dimensions from 2009 is where they really went off the deep end in the best possible way. This isn’t just two dudes with massively overdriven guitars anymore, they brought in like 30 people including orchestras, choirs, trombonists, and even Alice Coltrane’s influence. The opening track “Aghartha” builds for nearly 18 minutes with Attila Csihar (yeah, the Mayhem guy) doing his creepy spoken word thing over what sounds like the earth opening up. “Big Church” literally sounds like you’re trapped in some ancient cathedral during an apocalyptic service. But the real kicker is the final track “Alice”, it’s their tribute to Alice Coltrane and honestly might be the most beautiful thing they’ve ever done, all harp and jazz influences mixed with their signature doominess.
Here’s the thing, this album works because it doesn’t try to be extreme just for the sake of it. Yeah, it’s still heavy as hell and slower than molasses, but there’s actual composition here, actual progression. It’s like they took everything that made drone metal interesting and then threw in a bunch of stuff that shouldn’t work but totally does. If you’ve ever been curious about what happens when metal gets really, really experimental, this is your entry point.