Biography
Sunn O))) is an American drone metal/experimental band based in New York, NY and Los Angeles, CA and formed in 1998. The band’s core members consist of Stephen O’Malley (Khanate, Burning Witch, Sarin, Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine, Lotus Eaters, Ginnungagap, Thorr’s Hammer, Fungal Hex, KTL, Æthenor, Gravetemple) and Greg Anderson (Goatsnake, Thorr’s Hammer, Burning Witch, Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine, Brotherhood, Engine Kid, False Liberty, Burial Chamber Trio, Ascend). The band was formed as a tribute of sorts to Earth, another very heavy band noted as the pioneers of drone metal. G. Stuart Dahlquist currently of Asva and ex-Burning Witch performed bass on The Grimmrobe Demos and ØØ Void.
The band is named after the Sunn amplifier brand, whose logo includes a circle next to the “SUNN” banner with waves heading off to the right - reading those out as letters makes “Sunn O)))”. The band uses the same logo for their albums as well.
Pan Sonic (known as Panasonic before legal issues took away the letter A) was two guys (Mika Vainio and Ilpo Väisänen) project from Finland, who started out with long-term, low-frequency, high-decibel experiments and organizing rave parties in the country where “hardly anything happens ever”. The minimalistic music of Pan Sonic is composed “from a forbidding array of pure tones, sinewaves, pulses, electronic squelches and ultrasonic waveforms,” and a humorous attitude, “skilfully arranged into an accessible rhythmic package” mainly taken from the bowels of custom-built sinewave generators.
Given songs titled “Kurnutus” or “Rutina” (that is “Croaking” and “Crackle”), the environmental buzz, crackles and hums emanating from the speakers are hardly a surprise. Despite suggesting a harmless set of natural (sounding) frequencies, Pan Sonic have built up a reputation for fearsome live volume levels and atonal indulgence.
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