The World's Most Extreme Sound Bath: Sunn O))) Live in Leeds

How do you prepare yourself for seeing sunn O))) live other than making sure you have the best earplugs imaginable? Walking up to the venue, I'd never seen so many people on the way to a gig carrying ear defenders, and once inside, the person in front of me put earplugs in, then a set of ear defenders over the top. One look at the sarsen-like speaker stacks that form the stage backdrop gave an indication of the noise to come, but nothing can prepare you for the actual experience.

Support band Black Mountain took a diametrically different approach to sunn O))) with a quiet, stripped-down set of gentle atmospherics which heightened the anticipation for the headliners. Before sunn O))) took the stage, smoke was continually pumped onto the stage, drenching everything in a dense haze through which eventually two cloaked and hooded figures appeared. Then the first sounds erupt, sound waves blast out and everything shakes – the hairs on your arms, the muscles in your legs, your internal organs, your brain rattles, and in my case I could even feel the cap I was wearing vibrating. It is astonishingly intense as deep, heavy, droning waves reverberate around the venue.

For much of the gig you can’t see the two protagonists, who are hidden behind the walls of smoke, but occasionally a slow hand would be raised before gently stroking the guitar strings, and a further wave of noise and feedback is ushered outwards. Are they playing individual notes or chords? It's not always apparent as the notes are put through various effects pedals and amplification to create the astonishing sound that even though you are physically experiencing, you are struggling to believe it.

Looking around, there are arms raised in devotional worship; others are slowly swaying, but most are standing stock still in a combination of shock and awe. It might well be that some have run out screaming, but you wouldn’t hear them over the pummelling noise. The first track (or are they two tracks rolled together?) lasts around an hour, then a tiny respite before we are off again, plunging into the extreme. I did at one point consider whether all of this might be some crazy Dadaesque art experiment, and who knows, maybe it is.

Whatever it is, there is nothing else like it. Slowly your body and brain adjust to the sonic assault, and the sound acts almost like a cleansing agent, slowly flushing out all thought so that you end up in a meditative trance as you are experiencing the world’s most extreme sound bath.

The latest album features a Mark Rothko painting as the cover art. This seems very apt, as many have looked at Rothko’s art and viewed just one or two colours and seen just simplicity. However, there is a darkness and depth to his work that is impossible for mere mortals to recreate. The music of sunn O))) is so similar to this; it seems simple. In fact, there barely seems to be any notes, but no one does anything like this.

Time seems to bend to the vibrations, and then suddenly, after around an hour and three quarters, the noise stops, the smoke clears, the hoods are pushed back, and Stephen O’Malley and Greg Anderson greet the crowd. Everyone seems ecstatic; the audience have been pushed and tested to their limits, but it feels as if the two creators of this unique experience have also been pushing themselves to see the depth of what they can create. Stumbling out into the Leeds night, I reflect on what I’ve just experienced and can simply say, 'Wow.'

sunn O))) played at the Project House, Leeds on 29 June 2026