Heavy Song of the Week is a feature on Heavy Consequence breaking down the top metal, punk, and hard rock tracks you need to hear every Friday. This week, we highlight “Eternity’s Pillars” by Sunn O))).
It could be argued that Sunn O))) achieved the pinnacle of drone — at least from a recording standpoint — with 2019’s Life Metal. Meticulously tracked and engineered by late studio legend Steve Albini, the album was essentially an analog document of the band’s torrential waves of feedback, captured as close to verbatim — as heard in the studio — as humanly possible.
While Albini is sadly no longer with us, Sunn and producer Brad Wood — another engineer with a longtime connection to Chicago — appear to have carried on with the detail-oriented methods used to record Life Metal.
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As Sunn stated in a press release, their new three-song Sub Pop single — their first release as fresh label signees — was crafted with “extreme focus and care to each step and aspect of the recording, each tone and level of saturation, each gain stage and speaker, each arrangement and harmonic.” These are the kinds of things Albini labored over to achieve sonic perfection. The result, as heard on the release’s 14-minute A-side and centerpiece, “Eternity’s Pillars,” is the lossless transfer of sound directly from the studio to your speakers and/or headphones. It brings the resonance and feedback of Sunn O))) even closer — intimacy achieved through uncompromisingly high fidelity.
Honorable Mentions:
The Avett Brothers and Mike Patton – “Heaven’s Breath”
If you’ve been trying to wrap your head around the Avett Brothers collaborating with Mike Patton, a listen to “Heaven’s Breath” will make it make more sense. This is a heavier track built around fuzzed-out guitars and a post-punk groove — ripe for Patton — and the harmonized chorus emphasizes the sheer collective vocal talent of this unlikely unit. At the end of the day, these are people who love to sing, and they’re all damn good at it.
NOWHERE2RUN – “Motives”
The members of Code Orange have been busy while the band has been on hiatus. Guitarist Reba Meyers stepped out on her own as a solo act, touring and releasing new music earlier this year, and now Jami Morgan and Eric “Shade” Balderose are lifting the veil on their previously mysterious techno-industrial project NOWHERE2RUN with the single “Motives.” In a press release, Morgan described the project as “something very dark and tech noir ish.” A five-song EP, What Did You Do?, is due out October 31st.
Rancid – “Sex and Death”
Motörhead’s 1995 album Sacrifice is an underrated and oft-forgotten entry in their discography, so it’s cool to see it get some representation via Rancid’s cover of “Sex and Death” — a two-minute ripper that ironically sounds like Motörhead’s attempt at writing a Rancid-style song. The cover is included on the upcoming tribute LP, Killed By Deaf – A Punk Tribute to Motörhead.