Additional personnel: Joe Preston, Rex Ritter, Attila Csihar, Dawn Smithson.
Audio Mixers: Rex Ritter; Stephen O'Malley.
Recording information: Magnetic Park (08/2002-02/2004).
Gregg Anderson and Stephen O'Malley, the sonic pioneers behind Sunn O))), are still searching for the absolute bottom of the pool initially filled by Black Sabbath. WHITE 2, the companion piece to WHITE 1, uses its three epic-length compositions to explore the possibilities of extreme low-end harmonics. Endlessly repeating ghosts of sound, disturbing ambient noises, and shreds of vocal all contribute to the imposing doom stew. The bass-driven excursions on "BassAliens" create vivid aural hallucinations--sounds that aren't quite there, even as they menace--and the creeping evil of "Decay2 (Nihil's Maw)" skirts the edge of comprehension.
Professional Reviews
Uncut (p.104) - 3 stars out of 5 - "[A]mbient metal predominates - deeply silly and yet meditatively beautiful."
Alternative Press (p.138) - 5 out of 5 - "[T]hree unsettling eulogies to formalized structure and harmonic certitude. Spectral resonance swirls steadily from the farthest recesses of the stereo spectrum..."
The Wire (p.59) - "WHITE 2 effectively toys with ultimate low end frequencies that flit between dark feedback violence and passages of beautifully composed, intricate half-melodies."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.101) - 4 stars out of 5 - "Sunn 0))) have surpassed their mentors in single-minded exploration of the doom-drone void."
