''Terrestrials'' is a collaborative studio album by American drone metal band

Sunn O))) Sunn O))) (pronounced "sun") is an American drone metal band formed in 1998 in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington. The band is known for its distinctive visual style and slow, heavy sound, which blends diverse genres including doom metal, ...

and Norwegian

experimental music Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...

group

Ulver Ulver (Norwegian for "wolves") is a Norwegian Experimental electronic music, experimental electronica band founded in 1993, by vocalist Kristoffer Rygg. Their early works, such as debut album ''Bergtatt – Et eeventyr i 5 capitler, Bergtatt'', ...

. Produced by

Stephen O'Malley Stephen O'Malley (sometimes referred to as SOMA; born July 15, 1974) is an American guitarist, producer, composer, and visual artist from Seattle, Washington, who has conceptualized and participated in numerous drone metal, doom metal, and expe ...

and

Kristoffer Rygg Kristoffer Rygg (born 9 September 1976), also known as Garm, Trickster G. Rex and God Head, is a Norwegian vocalist, musician and producer known primarily for his work with Ulver, Arcturus, and Borknagar. Biography Kristoffer Rygg was born ...

, it was released on February 3, 2014, via

Southern Lord Records Southern Lord is an American heavy metal record label that was founded in 1998 by Greg Anderson. It initially specialized in experimental metal: particularly doom metal, stoner rock, and drone metal. The label later expanded its line-up to ...

. It has been described as "three live improvisation pieces".Tuffrey, Laurie (December 12, 2013)
"Listen: Sunn O))) / Ulver Collab Excerpt"

The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quietu ...

. Retrieved March 7, 2013. On December 10, 2013, a sample from the closing track, "Eternal Return", was released for streaming. It was also streamed on Pitchfork Advance on the day it was released until February 10, 2014.

Background

The relationship between Ulver and Sunn O))) extends to the mid-1990s, when Stephen O'Malley interviewed Kristoffer Rygg for various magazines.Keane, Jonathan (February 20, 2014)
"Stephen O'Malley Interview"Metal Ireland
Retrieved March 7, 2014. Ulver produced a track on Sunn O)))'s ''

White1 ''White1'' is the third studio album by American drone metal band Sunn O))), released in 2003. It was the most significant departure from their original style to date. Each track was experimental in its own way, with Julian Cope reciting poetr ...

'' and O'Malley played with Rygg and Daniel O'Sullivan, also of Ulver, in the

ambient Ambient or ambiance or ambience may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Ambiancé'', an unreleased experimental film * ''Ambient'' (novel), a novel by Jack Womack Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgr ...

noise Noise is sound, chiefly unwanted, unintentional, or harmful sound considered unpleasant, loud, or disruptive to mental or hearing faculties. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrat ...

Mason, Stewart
"Aethenor: Betimes Black Cloudmasses"

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

. Retrieved March 8, 2014. band, Aethenor. Sunn O))) was invited to perform at the Øya festival in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, at which time Rygg proposed that the band remain in the country for several additional days in order to collaborate. The bands created "the foundations for a bunch of tracks" at Ulver's studio, Crystal Canyon, and then Ulver prepared the preliminary arrangements and mix. The bands collaborated on the production, which, as O'Malley explained, As O'Malley explained of the three "live

improvisation Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...

pieces" comprising the album, "I remember the vibe in the room back then was more

rāga A raga ( ; , ; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a musical mode, melodic mode. It is central to classical Indian music. Each raga consists of an array of melodic structures with musical motifs; and, fro ...

than it was rock. And despite the fact that the walls were literally shaking from volume, it was actually quite a blissed out, psychedelic session. I wanted to preserve that vibe in the final mix".

Critical reception

Upon its release, ''Terrestrials'' received positive reviews from music critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 77, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 18 reviews. Tristan Bath, writing for

, described the collaboration as "a meeting of chameleonic polyglots, and the result is most unexpectedly beautiful and luminescent". ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

s Jamie Thomson noted that the interaction between Ulver and Sunn O))) "isn't just greater than the sum of its parts; it's a distinct journey between two disparate musical camps" that is "long, languorous and wonderful in its invention, with Ulver lending emotional heft to Sunn O)))'s wall of tone". Writing for

, Thom Jurek lauded the album, as "it perfectly reflects both Sunn O)))'s impenetrably emotional dark heart and Ulver's expertly crafted senses of drama and dynamic". Ray Van Horn Jr., writing for Blabbermouth, described the album as "one of the most fascinating albums in either act's careers." However, the album did receive some qualified criticism, with ''

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. History ''Consequence of Sound'' was founded in Septem ...

s Adam Kivel suggesting that the "collaboration doesn't quite rival the strongest albums of either band's catalog, but Sunn O))) and Ulver have produced an ecstatic, beautiful piece of experimental metal that celebrates the strengths of both bands". Grayson Currin of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' also indicated that the impact of the songs proved fleeting: "After the sun rises on these meditations, then, you can simply go about your daily routine, somewhat elevated but mostly unaltered".

Track listing

Daymare 2CD Bonus Tracks

Personnel

Sunn O))) * Greg Anderson *

Ulver * Daniel O'Sullivan – guitars *

– vocals, programming *Jørn H. Sværen – instrumentals *Tore Ylwizaker – keyboards, programming Additional musicians * Ole Henrik Moe – viola, violin *Kari Rønnekleiv – viola, violin *Stig Espen Hundsnes – trumpet *Tomas Pettersen – drums Production *Anders Møller – mixing *Jaime Gomez Arellano – mastering *Stephen O’Malley – production, art direction *Kristoffer Rygg – production

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2014 collaborative albums Sunn O))) albums Ulver albums Southern Lord Records albums