Sunn O))) (album)

Sunn O)))—Greg Anderson and Stephen O'Malley—collaborated with Sub Pop Records for the two-track single "Evil Chuck" / "Ron G Warrior" in 2023 as part of the Sub Pop Singles Club series. The band officially signed with the label in October 2025 and released the three-track single "Eternity Pillars" / "Raise the Chalice" / "Reverential"; the recordings were made earlier that year with producer Brad Wood at two American studios: Sea Grass (Los Angeles, California) and Bear Creek (Woodinville, Washington).^[1]

Sunn O))) was inspired by, among other things, the novel Is a River Alive? (2025) by Robert Macfarlane, who provided the album's liner notes. It was recorded, mixed, and produced by the band and Wood at Bear Creek in January 2025.^[2] The studio (a converted barn)^[3] and its surrounding rural environment inspired the music. O'Malley said: "We could go hiking and be out in the woods, spend time outdoors. That became a big part of it."^[2]

The album incorporates ambient sounds recorded outside the studio, such as an active stump grinder and the water of a nearby creek. Re-amping was used extensively during the recording process. Speaking about the technique, Wood said, "We opened up these giant doors and the doors to the kitchen leading out into the outside on the left and right side of the studio and just blasted their music out, and then set up microphones a couple hundred yards away from each other—like the world's largest stereo array of room mikes." To obtain a massive guitar sound, in contrast with what journalist Hank Shteamer describes as the typical process of recording guitars (one microphone for each four-speaker cabinet), Wood used a microphone for each speaker across three cabinets; he estimated that every track on the album used at least 130 audio tracks of guitar. Anderson estimated the upper limit to be 180. The close-knit sessions had no musical collaborators; the band eschewed its usual method of inviting guest musicians onto its albums, and as such, Sunn O))) is the band's first album where only the duo perform, with each playing bass, guitar, piano, and synthesizer.^[3]

The album was announced with a Sub Pop press release on January 13, 2026, coinciding with the lead single "Glory Black". The album's front and back covers, which are swapped on the European edition, each feature a painting by American abstract painter Mark Rothko.^[2] The second single, "Butch's Guns", was released on February 19, 2026. To support the album, the band is playing a thirty-three-concert tour of Europe and North America from March 30 to July 7.^[4]

More information Aggregate scores, Source ...

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.7/10[5]
Metacritic	85/100[6]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[7]
Clash	8/10[8]
The Guardian	[9]
Kerrang!	4/5[10]
The Line of Best Fit	8/10[11]
Mojo	[12]
MusicOMH	[13]
Paste	B[14]
Pitchfork	8.0/10[15]
Record Collector	[16]

Close

According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Sunn O))) received "universal acclaim" based on a weighted average score of 85 out of 100 from twenty critic scores.^[6] The review aggregator Any Decent Music gave the album a weighted average score of 7.7 out of 10 from sixteen critic scores.^[5]

These credits have been adapted from a Sub Pop press release,^[2] a New York Times interview,^[3] and music streaming services.^[17][18]