Sunno)))/Boris - Altar

This was always going to be a hard album to predict. Bass behemoths Sunno)))'s collaborations - with Xasthur, Leviathan etc. - have frequently been dissappointing in their inability to shift from bowel shuddering drone. Whereas Boris' collaborations - with Merzbow, Keiji Haino etc. - have been constantly exhilarating, shifting from pink drone to psychadelic rock to folk effortlessly. Thankfully, Boris bring out of the best in Sunno))) and the result is their first truly essential album (although not Boris' by any stretch), having, as it does, perfect dynamics rather than Sunno)))'s standard monotonous earth shuddering rumble. Shapeshifting from liturgical voices to spaced-out electronics, the album's best moments come when Boris' drumming takes Sunno)))'s drone into dimensions previously uncharted. Southern Lord and Sunno))) have taken a lot of stick of late (and rightly so) for propogating "hipster metal", but with this combination of inventiveness and ferocity, they should consider themselves redeemed. [Ali Maloney]