Stephen O'Malley (Sunn0))), KTL), Daniel O'Sullivan (Ulver, Mothlite, Guapo), Kristoffer Rygg (Ulver), Steve Noble (N.E.W., Company, etc). En Form For Blå documents the continued evolution of this unlikely collective, a collision of players from various avant, improv, metal, and "other" threads who together make a unique and arresting sound. Documenting three gigs in Oslo recorded in 2010, the music is deep and weird, with liquid sounds juddering around the occasionally identifiable percussion or Rhodes motif. Moving from an occasional/studio group to a frequently working live act, Æthenor has somehow kept their sound intact, taking the musique concrète-style transitions and "what's that sound" ethos of their three previous efforts directly to the stage. Noble, having spent a couple of decades playing drums with Derek Bailey and other well-known UK improvisers, moves the music along subtly, keeping much of the focus on the burbling sound mass. O'Malley's guitar, an instrument of extreme viscera in Sunn0))), is used with restraint, providing occasional low menace but mostly mixing it up with O'Sullivan's thematic lines and Rygg's sound treatments. The overall effect is atmospheric rather than sedate - something like a modern, small group version of Miles Davis' classic "He Loved Him Madly" or Nurse with Wound's "Spiral Insana." Other than Supersilent, it's hard to think of anyone really working this sonic vocabulary - this is a bold engagement from players who are well-known for completely different reasons from the strangeness heard here.
credits
released September 10, 2016
All music automatically composed during Blå residency, Oslo, Norway, April 01, April 27, and June 02, 2010
Live sound and tracking by Jarle Steinhovden and Espen Jorgensen
supported by 21 fans who also own “En Form for Blå”
Mocking Solemnity, Death Becomes You, and For Whom the Bell Tolls are great. SUNN O))) certainly don't do cover versions in the way other bands do, for sure! I wonder what Cliff Burton would have thought of it...? The four collaborations with Masami Akita/Merzbow aren't my thing, but if you are into it then you can find further collaboration on CroMonolithic Remixes for an Iron Age.
"Time marches on..." Master of Alchemy
supported by 21 fans who also own “En Form for Blå”
«Soudain l'homme se réveille
au milieu de la nuit
il est saisi par le malaise
et écoute malgré lui
le silencieux vacarme de l'angoisse
le bruit qui ne fait pas de bruit
le silence qui hurle à la mort
dans le grand coquillage de la nuit (...)»
(Jacques Prévert, Soudain le bruit) Ol64
The pedal steel guitarist marks his solo debut with a meditative blend of ambient electronics, neoclassical, and field recordings. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 13, 2021
The quietly moving songs on “Emanations” showcase the nimble guitar work of Saul Guanipa, each piece warm & melodic. Bandcamp New & Notable Jan 31, 2022
supported by 19 fans who also own “En Form for Blå”
During a long period of time, I couldnt listen to anything else thanThrobbing Gristle, PTV then a long Coil period. Swans managed to move from one obsession to another... And I discovered Anna von Hausswolff (I know, she played with the Swans, I wasn't too far from home!)
Nevertheless, I rarely am that mesmerised by a song, its beauty, its strength, its dark corners.
The strength of both versions was enough to burn its mark in my heart and soul. uberwenig