Mike of BrooklynRocks recently conducted an interview with Greg Anderson of the American "drone metal" act SUNN O))). The chat is now available for streaming using the audio player below.

SUNN O))) released its seventh studio album, "Monoliths & Dimensions", in May via Southern Lord Recordings. The CD showcases the core guitar duo — Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson — incorporating influences from a plethora of guest musicians, bringing the SUNN O))) sound to epic new levels. The band also collaborated with composer Eyvind Kang (notable for his work with John Zorn, Marc Ribot, Bill Frisell, etc.) on various acoustic ensembles, in addition to the Helios-fueled electric guitars and basses. Key players on the album include Australian guitar genius Oren Ambarchi, enigmatic Hungarian vocalist Attila Csihar (MAYHEM, TORMENTOR) and slow music godfather Dylan Carlson (EARTH), as well as Julian Priester (worked with SUN RA in the '50s, John Coltrane's African Brass band, and Herbie Hancock's Sextant band) and new-music horn player Stuart Dempster. There's also an upright bass trio, French and English horns, harp and flute duo, piano, brass, reed and strings ensembles, and a Viennese woman's choir led by Persian vocal savant Jessika Kenney.

The album is not "SUNN O))) with strings" or "metal meets orchestra" material. The band took an approach concentrating on more of allusion toward the timbre of feedback and the instruments involved, so the piece is really illusory, beautiful and not entirely linear, stating that the end product is "the most musical piece we've done, and also the heaviest, powerful and most abstract set of chords we've laid to tape."

The CD was recorded and mixed by Randall Dunn and Mell Dettmer at various points over the last two years, and is practice in density, gravity and momentum.

Greg Anderson interviewed by BrooklynRocks (click on player below to launch audio):