To create drone doom, it takes a gloomy, creative, yet twisted mind to firmly grasp the obscurity that rests within each droning soundwave. These three words can describe Greg Anderson and Stephen O'Malley's first 2007 release entitled, Oracle. The EP itself contains three pieces of carnage—two of which are over fifteen minutes and the last song over forty minutes. Although this recording still holds that Sunn O))) feel every dronehead loves, it seems that Anderson and O'Malley are taking a much more creative and darker approach to their minimalistic doom writing. Atilla Csihar once again steps into the studio with O))), to add to the haunting atmosphere with his eerie, echoing vocals, along with Joe Preston who also makes a special appearance on the EP. When you observe Oracle, it will feel like you have stepped foot into an underground, dimly candlelit chamber as lifeless souls are tormented for over an hour and twenty minutes. On a personal level, this has to be the best Sunn O))) EP released so far.
The album begins with a sixteen minute composition entitled, "Belülrõl Pusztít", which translates to "Killing from the Inside" in Hungarian. Not only is the title in Hungarian but the lyrics are as well which is a small inkling that Atilla puts more effort into O)))'s music than previous albums. This song does not contain any heavy drone riffs at all, as its only purpose is to set the tone for the gloom that has yet to come. Joe Preston's contribution has to be by far the most creative part of the EP, for he uses a jackhammer to amplify the intensity behind Atilla's shrieks and O)))'s synths and bass. This innovative use for a jackhammer lasts for a short time but it leaves you with quite the impression of how fierce the rest of the album really is. In the last five minutes of the song, we start to hear the steady drums kick in as this is the only time we hear the drums in any of the three songs.
"Orakulum" is the second of the three songs but it's the first where we start to hear O)))'s notable drone doom style spew out of the Sunn amplifiers. As the song progressed, it came to my attention that it sounded like something you would hear off of "Flight of the Behemoth" due to its muffled guitar effects, muddy, low-end bass and the absence of the synth throughout the song. Again, Atilla's dirty Hungarian vocals flow in and out of the frequencies, using more of his grunt than his scream or shriek. There's not much else I can really say about this song. It pretty much stays constant for the whole sixteen minutes which gets dull after the first ten minutes or so. Not my favorite piece off the EP but it is the most vehement of the three.
The chamber tour ends with a forty six minute song called "Helio)))sophist" which is my favorite on the album. I was instantly hooked by the drone chord that fades in the first few seconds of the song, which soon enough fades out to begin a synth trip. The one clever aspect about "Helio)))sophist" is its dynamics; the song weaves into heaviness, calms down, and continues this cycle throughout its duration. It seems like they were trying to combine everything heard in the first two songs into this composition. Atilla uses all of his vocal techniques such as his screaming, deep tone chanting and shrieks while O))) utilizes unique drone riffs that lacked in "Belülrõl Pusztít" and synths that were missing in "Orakulum". The synths used in the recording remind me of those used in both Neptune Towers albums for their space-like, atmospheric ambience. The song ends with everything droning out even Atilla's scream that lasts over two minutes which is pretty impressive to anyone's standards.
There's no doubt that Greg Anderson and Stephen O'Malley have proved themseleves numerous times before that they are the drone doom masters of the new era, alongside drone father, Dylan Carlson. Oracle is a caliginous delight for any Sunn O))) fan although I wouldn't recommend it to anyone trying to get into drone doom, for this album is far too out there and cannot be understood by just anyone. Oracle proves to be a great silent night listen for anyone suffering from insomnia or can even be served as a soundtrack for an approaching thunderstorm. After many plays of this amazing EP, it makes me curious to see what the black robed drone masters have in store for us next.
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