Got back from Seattle this afternoon. The two shows/lineups had a completely different vibe (including the Sunn sets), and they were both amazing.
Openers for the first show were Black Breath, Trap Them and The Accused. It was my first time hearing them. I generally don't like seeing bands whose music I'm not familiar with, because I end up bored most of the time, but all three of these bands kicked major ass. Especially The Accused. I'm kind of disappointed I hadn't heard of them before, considering they formed in the 80s. It's a good thing Sunn was the headliner, because my neck was sore by the time they came on. These guys have a good sense of humor, too, and their drummer is fun to watch.
Trap Them was darker and more aggressive than the other two openers. Their vocalist is a bit of a maniac. I don't know if he cut himself, or bashed himself in the head with the mic, but blood was running down his face for most of the set. He kept pacing back and forth between songs. I'm pretty sure I saw Greg Anderson up front during their performance, headbanging like crazy.
Not much to say about the first Sunn set. As I mentioned before, it was just the core of the band, Greg and Stephen, performing their earliest material. They played for 75 minutes and it was intense as fuck. I just stood there, completely mesmerized. I really recommend seeing them live, even if you don't like what you've heard by them, because their live performance is so different from anything in metal. They aren't exaggerating when they talk about sound as a physical presence. When you're close enough to the stage, your entire body vibrates. It's like you can feel the sound flowing all around you. It's actually a pleasant experience.
The second show drew a much larger crowd, which I expected, since Pelican was one of the openers. Eagle Twin and Earth played before them. The two-piece of Eagle Twin was alright, but there didn't seem to be much about their music that stood apart from other bands in the drone/doom/sludge genres. They kind of reminded me of Neurosis at times. Earth was the second band and it was my first time seeing them. I loved their set. I didn't recognize any of the music, but I'm pretty sure most (all?) of it was from their latest album. Steve Moore played keyboard and trombone, and they also had a cellist. Their set was really mellow and dreamy. Dylan was very polite, thanking the crowd after each "song".
Personally, I think it's kind of lame that Pelican got a higher spot on the bill than Earth, but I get that their audience is much bigger. Unfortunately, that audience seems to be mainly comprised of annoying hipsters. Are backpacks a fashion accessory now? Why did I see so many people drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon? Anyway, Pelican are up in Seattle recording their new album, and they played some of that material. I really liked one particular track that was heavier than anything they've done since Australasia, or maybe even their first EP. It was kind of dark, as well. Unfortunately, due to the venue's strict curfew, Pelican's set was cut a bit short.
Because of said curfew, Sunn kind of had to haul ass to get started "on time". They had the smoke machines running while Stephen, Greg and their sound engineer were getting everything ready on stage. I was in a slightly bad mood by that point because of how crowded and hot it was, and because my feet hurt like hell from walking around Seattle all day, but once Sunn came on all that shit became insignificant. I can't stress enough how unbelievably awesome this show was. Unlike the first set, this was a much more nuanced performance. They started off with Aghartha, from their new album (Monoliths & Dimensions). After several minutes, Attila came out to the front of the stage, and began his monologue. At this point, Greg and Stephen greatly subdued their heavily-distorted droning, and the song started getting really twisted. With the addition of Steve Moore on keys, they made it sound even
more evil than the album version. I'm pretty sure I had a huge grin on my face during this entire segment.
Aghartha flowed into a solo vocal part by Attila that lasted about 10 minutes. It was mostly chanting, with some extremely low grunts and growls mixed in, as well as some overtone singing. It was genuinely disturbing. Eventually, he was accompanied by some subtle keyboard parts, as well as some creepy sax playing (courtesy of a local musician whose name I don't recall at the moment).
After the ritualistic chanting, the band went into Hunting & Gathering, which, again, was even darker than the album version. The keyboards added a very spacey vibe as well. I listened closely for trombone, since there are some brass parts in the album version, but I don't think Moore played it at all during this.
Next was a part that seemed to have been Sunn's take on Indian music. Stephen and Greg's droning sounded remarkably similar to a sitar, and Attila provided clean vocals (in a language I'd assume was Hindi), including more overtone singing. I hope he does some actual singing in his future work, because it sounds great. I hadn't even heard any of it until I listened to some parts from Domkirke a couple of months ago.
Big Church came next. It's obviously not quite as good without the female choir, but in place of that Attila sang some parts that sounded like Gregorian chant. The actual "heavy" part of the track, with Attila chanting "megszentsegtelenithetetlensegeskedeseitekert", sounded exactly like the album version.
The rest of the set comprised of more droning and a variety of vocal styles from Attila. Toward the end, they started getting even louder and Attila began unleashing these ghastly shrieks. The first one came all of a sudden, so it was kind of startling. The band seemed to tease the crowd by growing quieter, only to get loud as hell again. I noticed that one of the venue's employees had propped open one of the doors, and I laughed when I thought about all the people outside hearing this deafening, ominous noise coming from the club. Stephen and Greg hung their guitars over their amps as the music gave way to pure feedback and eventually faded to silence. They completed their ritual with reverent bows to the audience.
This set was completely mindblowing. PLEASE, if they're playing near you, GO. It's truly an experience, and I can't fucking wait to see them again.
A few more things I'd like to mention (as if this weren't long enough):
1. People who feel the need to talk non-stop or look at their cellphones constantly at shows can go to hell. I think a lot of the people at the second show were attending just to say they were there. Thankfully, a lot of them couldn't handle the performance, since about a quarter of the crowd left while Sunn was playing.
2. For those who decide to see them, something to keep in mind: Even though I was several feet back from the stage, and was wearing earplugs with a 33 decibel noise reduction rating, my ears still rang afterward. I noticed several people plugging their ears.
3. At the first show, I saw a dude with a beard who looked kind of familiar. Didn't think much of it at the time. At the second show, I noticed him again as he passed by me during Sunn's performance. I thought, "Who the hell is that guy? Why does he look so familiar?" Then it dawned on me, it was Kim Thayil. He stepped on my foot on his way back toward the front (but turned back toward me and patted my shoulder a couple of times as an apology).
4. All of the Sunn guys were wearing hooded robes, as per usual. At one point, Attila's face became visible, and I saw that he was wearing this:
http://www.nadersadek.com/gallery.php?g ... ery/attila
