Well known as purveyors of viscous guitar sludge, the duo of Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson expand their ambitions and make some startling jazz-ensemble noises on their seventh album. Monoliths & Dimensions not only features previous collaborators like Hungarian growler Attila Csihar and Australian experimental guitarist Oren Ambarchi, but also new ones like Sun Ra’s old reedman Julius Priester. On “Aghartha,” Sunn O)))’s tar pits now bubble with atonal strings and eerie brass, while “Alice” (named after John Coltrane’s widow) inverts all expectations; negative space infuses their pulverizing tendencies, revealing that light is the new heavy.
Watch: Sunn O))) — Live in Mexico City
