Music

Average customer rating:

PING PONG.
Death Becomes You
O)))
Please listen to a Sunn Fan
Why such a low score?

Flight of the Behemoth
Sunn O)))
Manufacturer: Southern Lord
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Ambient | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Death Metal | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Experimental Music | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

White1
White2
Black One
Absolutego
Akuma No Uta

ASIN: B00005UF3X
Release Date: 2002-02-05

Tracks:

Mocking Solemnity
Death Becomes You
0))) Bow 1
0))) Bow 2
F.W.T.B.T.

Customer Reviews:

PING PONG........2006-10-09

Chances are, you are not looking at the amazon page for _Flight of the Behemoth_ because you accidentally stumbled on to it. You are here because something brought you here, perhaps an article reference, perhaps words from a friend. Either way, the fact that you are even reading this at all tells me that you already have at least a partial affinity for music like this, even if you do not yet realize it. Now I want to show you why you need to have this album.

This album is almost trivially dark and doomy sounding at the surface. Yet as the sound slowly seethes, it becomes emotionally damaging, like a cruel, impotent rage that hungers for revenge. The force of Sunn 0))) is an exquisitely mapped evolution of guitar distortion -- accompanied with a little piano, percussion, and Merzbow - through which a story unfolds of something so horrifying, no one can speak about it. Speaking intelligibly, after all, requires language...and language requires reason. Reason must struggle with comprehending _Flight of the Behemoth_, as it can seemingly only operate on a primitive, intuitive level -- a subrational element suppressed in any civilized man, yet capable of response to the crude brutality of this music. If music-listening's value is about a narrowly defined pleasure or "nice feelings", then _Flight of the Behemoth_ (along with countless other works) must be considered illegitimate. But if aesthetic appreciation is about something more, and the musical experience is capable of being even more enriching beyond traditional concepts and emotions, then this is monumental. Its influences are clear, but it is beyond them.

"Death Becomes You" has the best opening in music history--ensure your stereo is cranked. The initial amplified tone dissolves into the droning sludge of guitar and bass distortion. This continues through "Mocking Solemnity", where layers of feedback churn violently. "0))) Bow 1" rumbles for about 45 seconds before an atonal piano figure, based around basically three notes, enters with sinister inelegance. It continues through waves of distortion and layers of noise manipulation (Merzbow!) that eventually becomes asphyxiating. "0))) Bow 2" starts like a junker chainsaw in a wind tunnel, until the sound is warped beyond recognition into a throbbing symphony of droning and electronics, against which the discordant piano is again set with almost nauseating effect. Out of this, near the end, you get one of the uncanny moments ever in music, with broken percussion chiming in a carnival-like melodic figure that slows down, speeds up, and disappears erratically. This is repeatedly, rapaciously pierced by the brutal static shards of...Merzbow again! As this fades away, it ends eerily with a electric guitars distorted with undulating effects as if they were the waves of a black ocean. "FWTBT" has a sludgy riff, which fades away eventually into a reprise of idiomatic droning Sunn chords, otherwise familiar until the incredibly creepy vocals emerge. They are like the bloody growls of a nightmarish beast. But nothing as pedestrian as a physical monster--rather, the beast within that struggles against reason and seeks to discorporate all humanity. When the album is over, the Behemoth is released.

The production is a marvel of audio engineering -- weirdly, you can listen to this album at very quiet volumes and find a whole new dimension to it. You can't do that with a lot of albums that are heavy. Don't worry though -- it's super-heavy, the way only Sunn 0))) can be. The bass is crushing, as must be expected, but what also seems to get special attention in this album is the flesh-quivering treble, raising the distortion to a spectrum smashing, all encompassing wall of death.

So you need this album.

Death Becomes You.......2006-02-25

Get good speakers or you can't appreciate Sunn 0))). With their unyielding sub-woofer-crunching mind-numbing death-drones, the duo wracks every corner of your mind with their bleak guitar riffs played sustenuto ad nauseum. It is minimal and effective, subdued and explosive, painful yet beautiful. Just as vanilla metalheadz can't understand Sunn 0))), yuppified metalheadz wouldn't understand the sinister power of the Merzbow collaborations on Bow 1 and Bow 2. One has to understand Merzbow's involvement with the s/m scene, to understand the intended pain imparted from each hammered note from the prepared piano. With the persistent metallic-grinds of Sunn 0))) guitars bethrolled to Merzbow's irrepressible death-electronics, one cannot escape the inexorable feeling of death, doom and gloom, over and over and over. With music imparting paradoxical lessons of reincarnation in death in such a stylish fashion, one cannot help but feel deeply humbled.

O))).......2005-12-17

For those of you who are looking into Sunn O))) for the first time, "Flight of the Behemoth" is a great place to start your journey. The album begins with "Mocking Solemnity" a gigantic slab of molten riffery that ebbs and flows with hypnotic grace. Next is "Death Becomes You" which continues perfectly with the hypnotic drone, however there are a few variations on the riff which you should catch if you haven't already zoned out. So there you are feeling totally relaxed when all of the sudden "BOW O))) 1" starts and things begin to feel really out of place. Now I'm a fan of Merzbow but there are a few things he shouldn't mess with, and the riffs of Sunn O))) are one of them. "BOW O))) 2" continues along the same lines with a few nice touches here and there (i.e. the warping of riffs, the backwards looped piano) but nothing that is really attention grabbing. After the Merzbow remixes comes the albums excellent closer "F.W.T.B.T" which if you didn't already know is a "cover" of the classic Metallica song "For Whom The Bell Tolls". Bear in mind that Sunn O))) has altered the song in such a way that one would be hard pressed to find parallels between this version and the original version. All said this is a great album, with the only drawbacks being the Merzbow remixes. Highly recommended.

Please listen to a Sunn Fan.......2005-11-24

i have been a sunn 0))) fan for a few years now and i totally disagree with all the bad stuff people is saying about this album...YES it is hard to listen to ..YES most of you Wont Like...YES its the best thing sunn has released until black one was released

its a solid album but sometimes the merzbow tracks get boring and i skip them but i never skip them until i have heard the symphony of chainsaw as you get sucked into the black hole...possibly the greatest thing i have ever heard

if you have any musical taste and are open minded this could be a ever lasting reward

Why such a low score?.......2005-09-13

I can't understand how this album is getting 3 1/2 stars. All of Sunn0)))'s albums have pretty much the same idea, lowest level of handling, but the music is so interesting that it sounds like nothing ever put out before. I believe these guys are way different from Earth. There are Earth elements, definately, but a totally different style.

Do yourself a favor, if you came here to check out a little more information about Sunn0))), ignore the negative reviews and buy this, or White2 for starters. Listen to them on a nice set of speakers, lay back and settle yourself. You'll find yourself in a completely different world. Sunn 0))) brings you there.

Music:

Music