''Sun Baked Snow Cave'' is a collaborative album between Japanese
experimental
An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...
doom
Doom is another name for damnation.
Doom may also refer to:
People
* Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed
* Daniel Doom (born 1934), Belgian cyclist
* Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitcher
* ...
band
Boris and Japanese
noise music
Noise music is a genre of music that is characterised by the expressive use of noise within a musical context. This type of music tends to challenge the distinction that is made in conventional musical practices between musical and non-musical ...
ian
Merzbow
is a Japanese noise project started in 1979 by , best known for a style of harsh, confrontational noise. Since 1980, Akita has released over 400 recordings and has collaborated with various artists.
The name Merzbow comes from the German dada ...
. The album consists of a single track that clocks in at over an hour in length. The album artwork was done by
Sunn O)))
Sunn O))) (pronounced "sun") is an American experimental metal band formed in 1998 in Seattle, Washington. The band is known for their distinctive visual style and slow, heavy sound, which blends diverse genres including doom metal, drone, bla ...
member and regular Hydra Head designer
Stephen O'Malley.
Composition
Structurally, the album has three distinct sections: the opening 18 minutes consist primarily of quiet, sparse acoustic guitar strums backed by distant whirs and machine noises; a lengthy crossfade shifts the album into
drone
Drone most commonly refers to:
* Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg
* Unmanned aerial vehicle
* Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft
* Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone
Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to:
...
doom metal
Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...
, with Merzbow's accentuation via harsh noise layers; eventually, the loud half-hour settles through movements of noise into 6 minutes of a quiet electric guitar and ambience coda.
Release
In 2014, the album was released as a double
LP. Released as a limited edition of 1,200 copies pressed on black, white, electric blue, or clear with blue streaks vinyl. Initially available on August 16, 2014 as a limited release on the Hydra Head online store and from Boris on tour. A general release followed on September 23. It was repressed in March 2015 on clear/blue splatter in an edition of 500 copies.
Track listing
Personnel
;Boris with Merzbow
*Masami Akita – computer
*Takeshi – guitar, bass guitar
*Wata – guitar, echo
*Atsuo – feedback conduction, computer
;Production
*Fangs Anal Satan – mixing
*
Stephen O'Malley – artwork
Notes
*Mastering at Peace Music 6 October 2004
Release history
References
{{Authority control
2005 albums
Collaborative albums
Boris (band) albums
Merzbow albums
Hydra Head Records albums