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Monoliths & Dimensions
by
Monoliths & Dimensions Image
Metascore
88

Universal acclaim - based on 16 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
6.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 90 Ratings

  • Summary: The metal band worked with composer Eyvind Kang on its seventh album, which features Australian guitar player Oren Ambarchi, vocalists Attila Csihar, Jessika Kenney, Earth's Dylan Carlson, and trombonists Julian Priester and Stuart Dempster as guest artists.

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
  1. Drowned In Sound
    100
    For anyone interested in music that works both as art and an intensely new exciting experience--this is easily the best album that has come out this year.
  2. No Ripcord
    90
    Monoliths & Dimensions, present O’Malley and Anderson’s sonic murk as something to delve into, their inescapable walls of low-end suddenly beaming with purpose and a million and one instruments.
  3. AllMusic
    90
    Monoliths and Dimensions succeeds because it is the sound of a new music formed from the ashen forge of drone, rock, and black metal.
  4. Prefix Magazine
    80
    With the explorations of additional instrumentation as well being more comfortable with silences and with echo, SunnO))) approach the freedom and abandon of the spirit-travelers alluded to in the titles and approaches on this, the band's best record yet.
  5. Mojo
    80
    Beautifully arranged, its four pieces amplifiy Sunn O)))'s signature drone rumble. [Jun 2009, p.96]
    All this publication's reviews
  6. PopMatters
    80
    With nearly three dozen guest musicians chipping in, the aptly titled Monoliths and Dimensions is far and away the band’s most ambitious project to date, but typically, the many guest contributions are so subtly performed and arranged, not to mention entirely in keeping with O’Malley’s and Anderson’s collective vision, that we hardly notice.
  7. Under The Radar
    70
    The more Sunn O))) neglect their Earth-worshipping roots in favor of this sort of robe-wearing, avant-garde composer thing, the more interesting it gets.

See all 16 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 46
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 46
  3. Negative: 16 out of 46
  1. GabrielC
    Jun 15, 2009
    10
    A great masterpiece, one of the best metal albums of the decade, hands down.
  2. P.M.
    Aug 25, 2009
    10
    Did Julian Priester introduce Sunn O))) to trombonist George Lewis' 1979 "Homage to Charlie Parker"? This is great material.
  4. RickieD
    Jul 3, 2012
    10
    I'm genuinely baffled by the people who say there's no progression in the songs. 'Alice' starts off with a creeping, slow guitar riff and endsI'm genuinely baffled by the people who say there's no progression in the songs. 'Alice' starts off with a creeping, slow guitar riff and ends with a wailing horn... How are they the same thing? This is music that requires focus, attention, and an appreciation of where it's come from and what it's trying to do. That can take years to accomplish. I first came to Sunn O))) ten years ago and couldn't stand them. Now I've gone back, having seen them live and buying a sound system that can almost manage the low-end layers, and it all makes sense. It's not pretentious, it's not "just art" (whatever the hell that means), it's a form of music that asks more of its audience than other styles, and creates atmospheres that most other bands would struggle to begin to understand.

    And if you think you could make money by sticking a mic by a washing machine and distorting the effects for 30 minutes, just **** do it and get some money so that you'll hopefully feel less of a need to act like a moron. You're like the children who stand before a Picasso and say it's "just splatters of paint". If you don't get it, you don't get it, but don't broadcast your ignorance like it's an achievement.    … Expand
  5. MarkS
    Jun 21, 2009
    8
    "Aghartha" is the perfect choice to open your 2009 Halloween mix.
  6. hubcap
    Oct 22, 2009
    5
    People who like this sort of thing will find that this is the sort of thing that they like. Other people will wonder what the fuss is about.
  7. nick
    Aug 26, 2009
    2
    I kind of get the dark ambiance thing but i don't see what's so special about this album - any reasonable musician could make this I kind of get the dark ambiance thing but i don't see what's so special about this album - any reasonable musician could make this if they could be arsed, the thing is there are much more interesting things to do with noise that what Sunn have created. I respect the opinion of those who love it and in fairness I may be missing something, but it doesn't seem like an artistic leap forward or anything particularly revolutionary to me.… Collapse
  8. DaveS
    Jul 22, 2009
    0
    "It's music serving as a physical force, not an emotional or intellectual one. And by physical, I mean that you should FEEL the sound "It's music serving as a physical force, not an emotional or intellectual one. And by physical, I mean that you should FEEL the sound pressing against your body." Airplane turbines have a similar effect. Check them out dude. They're really cutting edge.… Expand

See all 46 User Reviews

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