Bochum, Turbinenhalle an der Jahrhunderthalle, 03-09-2016

I guess every music enthusiast has a list of live experiences to make before he leaves the rotten remains of this planet and US Drone Lords SUNN O))) have been on my list ever since I first took notice of their work. It’s not like I listen to their records on a regular basis (does anybody do that, anyway?) but I have lots of respect for their artistic vision and their dedication to an art form even most extreme music fans consider as nothing but indecipherable noise. (I even hired my pseudonym from them, obviously). So it didn’t take me long to decide to buy a ticket when SUNN O))) announced their concert under the banner of the „Ruhrtriennale“, a festival of arts held annually at the Ruhr area. 

The location couldn’t be much more fitting for an event like this. Located in an industrial park, Turbinenhalle is an abandoned brick building, nowadays used for cultural purposes exclusively. Walking by all those illuminated old industrial building in the dark (the show starts at 11 pm) serves as a nice attunement for what’s to come. 

Some minutes before the scheduled beginning, the fog machines start to cloud the air in the venue and when SUNN O))) finally begin their set almost half an hour later, it is impossible to see more than two rows of people in front of yourself, let alone the stage. So, everything you notice is Attila Csihar’s voice, chanting in an unintelligible, otherworldly language for eternities, before the first chord makes everything in the room vibrate. The volume is oppressive, the massive drones devour everything within reach. Slowly, very slowly, Attila’s hands appear out of the lightening smoke, later his silhouette, much later the rest of the band. Time stands still and flies at the same time when single notes and dissonant chords hang in the air for ages, the cloaked figures on the stage, surrounded by an armada of amps, become nothing but supernumeraries to this sculpture of sound. Somewhere in the middle of the set, Attila leaves for a while, just to reappear for the grand finale, dressed in what looks like a king’s gown made of broken mirrors. The man is infamous for his costumes and he doesn’t disappoint tonight. When SUNN O))) take their final bow at the end of the show, it is 1:30 pm. Silence returns to Bochum and what remains is the certainty to have witnessed something special. I’m not sure if I need this a second time in my life but it sure wasn’t a mistake to put SUNN O))) on my list in the first place. 

00 Void