Kannon, by SUNN O)))

Kannon

by SUNN O)))

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Brian Parker A call to Prayer, an apocalyptic Reckoning. Like a storm with a face....

Dog Bikini is it weird that i've discovered sunn o through poppy? great album. i listen to this when im sleeping. Favorite track: Kannon 1.

Nocturnal Egg (Jordan) Kannon est injustement mal-aimé. C'est vrai : il dépasse à peine les trente minutes, ce qui est très court pour un album de Sunn O))), d'autant plus qu'il sort au bout de six ans d'attente. Mais c'est vraiment son seul défaut. Et encore !
Kannon est une étape de transition vers un drone plus spirituel marqué ici par une pensée bouddhiste. Au lieu d'être abyssales, les guitares sont reposantes. Attila Csihar chante d'une voix rituelle et parfois même désincarnée ("Kannon 1"). Harmonieux, zen. Favorite track: Kannon 3.

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1.	Kannon 1 12:50	lyrics
Kannon 1 Vowing to never rest despite strenuous effort Her head split into 11 pieces Her two arms shattered into pieces Amitabha came to her aid and appointed her thousand arms an immortal Shown in a white flowing robe a water jar and willow branch in her hands The daughter of the cruel king The tree misfortunes to come she allowed herself to die at the hand of an executioner But his axe shattered into a thousand of pieces The sword shattered too The arrows all weared off It is because of this Yanluo the king of hell sent her back to prevent the utter destruction of his realm Standing atop of a dragon Sending pearl of light
2.	Kannon 2 09:09	lyrics
Kannon 2 Suffering of the people as they are Suffering of the people as they fall ill She caused death The tiger who feasted Forgotten Led her hellish realm of dead She played such music Flowers blossomed And turned hell Into paradise She played such music Flowers blossomed Forgotten Led her hellish realm of dead She caused death The tiger who feasted
3.	Kannon 3 11:26	lyrics
Kannon 3 Her light is waving crossing the infinite worlds expanding merging beginning and end She destroys mortality light reborn from shadow expanding around the world egg She destroys mortality Goddess of Sun the morning star and the cynosure She destroys mortality

about

Marketing text 110915

Kannon is an album which was composed in the aftershadow of SUNN O)))’s most recent successes in immersive collaboration (the group worked with Scott Walker on Soused, Ulver on Terrestrials in 2013 and 2014) and also from the broad and influential wake of their epitimous Monolith’s & Dimensions . Kannon emerged both independently as a conceptual entity and with roots in the legacies of those projects, yet was fully realised years later, in 2015. The album is 36 minutes in length and consists of three pieces of a triadic whole : Kannon 1, 2 and 3.

The album celebrates many SUNN O))) traditions ; Kannon was recorded and mixed with SUNN O)))’s close colleague and coproducer Randall Dunn in Seattle, in Studio Litho, Aleph and Avast! ; and the LP includes performances by long term allies and collaborators Attila Csihar, Oren Ambarchi, Rex Ritter, Steve Moore and others. And at the core the composition centers around the dynamic and intense guitar and bass interplay of SUNN O)))’s founders : Stephen O’Malley & Greg Anderson.

It’s possibly the most figurative album SUNN O))) has created, which is unusual as they usually dwell in layers of abstraction and subjectivity. On the other hand the album is the most outright “metal” in years, drawing personal associations and memories of cherished albums like Panzerfaust and Twilight of the Gods again to the forefront of consciousness. At the third time it is very close to the cyclical character of mantra which the band has evolved into as a living creature, the enormity of intense sensate detail and manifestation of the live in concert face of SUNN O))), the organism that has flourished, metamorphosed and transcended tremendously over the past ten years.

The literal representation of Kannon is as an aspect of Buddha : specifically “goddess of mercy” or “Perceiving the Sounds (or Cries) of the World”. She is also sometimes commonly known as the Guanyin Bodhisattva (Chinese: 觀音菩薩) amongst a plurality of other forms. There is a rich lineage behind this idea tracing back through many asian belief systems, with as many names and cultural personifications of the idea .

SUNN O))) commissioned critical theorist Aliza Shvartz to write a text / liner notes around these ideas and topics. She also explores the relations and perceptions to their approach to these ideas via the metonym of music and SUNN O)))’s place/approach within the framework of music and metal overall.

SUNN O))) also commissioned Swiss designer/artist Angela LaFont Bollinger to create the cover artwork, an abstracted sculpture of vision of Kannon, and the French photographer Estelle Hanania to capture portraits of the core trio (Csihar, Anderson, O’Malley) in the impressive and obscurant Emanuel Vingeland mausoleum in Oslo.

The LP is packaged in immaculate tip on gatefold sleeve by our long time comrades Stoughton Printing, and pressed at Cascade in Portland, Oregon. CD, download and coloured vinyl versions are also available.

– Stephen O’Malley & Greg Anderson / SUNN O))), 11 September 2015

credits

released December 4, 2015

Produced in 2015 by SUNN O))) (Stephen O’Malley & Greg Anderson) with Randall Dunn
Kannon 1, 2, 3 written & arranged by SUNN O))), Lyrics by Attila Csihar

Stephen O’Malley - Guitar // Greg Anderson - Bass Guitar, Guitar (K2, K3) // Attila Csihar - Voice

with // Oren Ambarchi - Guitar, Oscillator (K1 & K2) / Randall Dunn - Korg MS 20 (K1 & K2) / Steve Moore - Juno 106 (K2)
Brad Mowen - Concert Bass Drum (K2) / Rex Ritter - Moog (K2) / Conch trio : Dempster, Priester & Moore

Recorded at studio Litho, Avast! and Aleph, Seattle by Randall Dunn, Mixed at Avast! by Randall Dunn
Assistant recording engineer at Litho : Mell Dettmer / Mastered by Jason Ward at CMS

SUNN O))) art direction : Stephen O’Malley
Cover sculpture, interior “comets” & title typography Angela Bolliger at Lafont London / Cover photographed by Robyn Vickers / «KANNON/CANON» text by Aliza Shvarts
Band portraits by Estelle Hanania / Detail from mural Vita at the Emanuel Vigeland Mausoleum, Oslo © Emanuel Vigeland Museum / ARS 2015

Greg Anderson would like to thank my brothers in Goatsnake, the Southern Lord staff, my amazing wife Jennifer, and our children : Thora River, Orson Ballard, & Nolan Mountain.

SOMA thanks : our valve guru Tos Nieuwenhuizen. Gisèle Vienne & DACM. PITA. Aliza Shvarts, Angela Bolliger and Estelle Hanania for thier generous efforts toward helping us realize this album concept. Chris Fullard. Tadashi Hamada. Helge Sten & Yvonne Thompson. Our agents Vincent Royers & David Strunk. Hail to the Russian SUNN O))) hordes.

Attila thanx : Sirius, A.C., Dee Alien, Arion, Julia and my family, and the SUNN O))) die hards. Special thanx to Sennheiser Canada and Roland East EU.

SUNN O))) is supported by the Fog, Smoke & Haze Factory GmbH Langenhagen/Hannover

sunn.southernlord.com sunn.bandcamp.com sunn-live.bandcamp.com

Published by Ideologic Organ (SACEM) & Sabbath Rehash (BMI)

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about

SUNN O))) Seattle, Washington

Sunn O)))) formed 1996, Seattle WA (as Mars). A synthesis of diverse: drone, ur, noise, metal, minimalism/maximalism; supported by a cast of collaborators, O))) has two core members: Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson.

All digital sales directly go to O))) funding future actions. Hail to our great fans! Thank you all very much for your support so far and in the future! WE RESPECT! ... more

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