Albums to watch

Sunn O)))

Sunn O)))

Sunn O)))

Tenth album and first in seven years from the Seattle drone metal merchants led by Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson

ADM rating[?]

7.7

Label
Sub Pop
UK Release date
03/04/2026
US Release date
03/04/2026
  1. 9.0 |   Uncut

    The album is a magnificently heavy double of downtuned, epic riffing. Print edition only

  2. 9.0 |   musicOMH

    Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson's vast primordial compositions all but dissolve structure, leaving the evocation of feeling to celebrate a communion of man and the natural world
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  3. 8.5 |   The Quietus

    The enrobed duo of Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson have produced a beguiling work that distils the overwhelming impact of nature on the human psyche into 80 minutes of utterly transcendent avant metal
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  4. 8.0 |   The Skinny

    SUNN O))) reconnect with nature and signal our doom on their self-titled comeback record
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  5. 8.0 |   Beats Per Minute

    Sunn O))) rewards repeat listens as there’s so much going on under the surface. It’s majestic, euphoric, but also clearly not for everybody. But then you should never really trust the majority, anyway
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  6. 8.0 |   Clash

    At over an hour, it’s not casual listening. But SUNN O))) have always been about testing limits, pushing boundaries, (destroying speakers). That’s precisely why the album works and why the band have endured: ‘SUNN O)))’ feels like a reaffirmation — of process, of power, and of why they remain darlings of the underground
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  7. 8.0 |   Kerrang!

    What remains undeniable is that Sunn O)))’s all-enveloping textures occupy a landscape like no other. Slow your breathing, open your ears and let yourself be taken there
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  8. 8.0 |   Record Collector

    You may rejoice, you may be bemused, or you may soil your drawers and run for the nearest exit. It's quite an experience, however you find it. Print edition only

  9. 8.0 |   Pitchfork

    Stripped back to just Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson, the drone-metal titans explore the minutiae of microtonal vibrations on an album that sprawls like land art
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  10. 8.0 |   Mojo

    This is, ultimately, music you feel in your body, your gut, your skull, a sensation of constant sonic regeneration and psychoactive power that, like the group’s use of cowls and smoke machines when playing live, survives on its enduring air of mystery
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  11. 8.0 |   The Guardian

    The doomy duo strip back their sound to tectonic guitars and feedback, conjuring an immersive, strangely euphoric listening experience recorded in the wilds of Washington
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  12. 8.0 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    Far from monotonous, the band’s seemingly relentless pummelling rewards a patient listener with plenty of hypnotic texture and enriching detail that is far easier to simply feel and become immersed in than do justice to with words
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  13. 7.5 |   Paste Magazine

    The drone metal duo’s first album in seven years is a characteristically loud yet dynamic tribute to the beauty and strength of our environment
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  14. 7.5 |   Under The Radar

    Their visual aesthetic is always striking as well. As such, it should also be noted that the artwork featured here is a reproduction of two paintings by the legendary artist Mark Rothko, and that they collaborated with French artist Elodiei Lesourd on the inner sleeve artwork, along with liner notes by the acclaimed British writer Robert McFarland
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  15. 7.0 |   Hot Press

    One of those records that rewards repeated spins, the curious will no doubt be confused by its oddness - but the diehards will devour it
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  16. 4.0 |   Far Out

    Conjuring their smothering sheets of swallowing doom, SUNN O)))’s heavy sludge riffage rolls to such a mammoth expanse that their frequently ten-minute arcs nebulously draw in detours into dark ambient or even a weird, avant-garde classical
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