Southern Lord / droneView on the map →

Sunn O)))

United States · formed 1998 · last active 2026

Sunn O))) is an American drone metal band formed in 1998 by guitarists Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson, who took their name and initial inspiration from Seattle drone pioneers Earth. Known for glacially slow, massively amplified guitar tones performed in robes amid dense fog, the duo built a shifting cast of collaborators around vocalist Attila Csihar and released landmark records including Black One (2005) and Monoliths & Dimensions (2009). Anderson and O'Malley co-founded Southern Lord Records in 1998, the label that anchors much of the experimental-metal underground. Their collaborative streak extends to albums with Boris (Altar), Ulver (Terrestrials) and singer Scott Walker (Soused, 2014).

SCORE PROFILE

JazzyBalkanHardcoreSurfBarbershopDeathBlackTechnicalGlitchTheatricalFolkDoomDroneShoegazeAmbient8-bit
Jazzy0
Balkan0
Hardcore0
Surf0
Barbershop0
Death1
Black3
Technical2
Glitch2
Theatrical6
Folk0
Doom3
Drone9
Shoegaze0
Ambient5
8-bit0

Accent numbers counted towards the index. Hover an axis — or hold it on a phone — for what it means.

MEMBERS

CONNECTIONS

member · 11
collaboration · 11
remix · 2
  • Earthpath →

    Sunn O))) remixed Earth's "Rule the Divine" as "Rule The Divine (Mysteria Caelestis Mugivi)" for the Earth remix album Legacy of Dissolution (2005, Southern Lord/No Quarter). source ↗

  • James Plotkinpath →

    James Plotkin remixed Sunn O)))'s "Veils It White" as "Remix [Re::psichadelix]" (2003). source ↗

split release
label founder · 13
  • Boris (drone/doom era)path →

    Southern Lord Records (the US label run by Sunn O)))'s Greg Anderson) reissued/released Boris's early drone work in North America, including the 2003 US reissue of Amplifier Worship, driving a surge of North American popularity. source ↗

  • Boris (rock/shoegaze era)path →

    Southern Lord Records (the US label co-run by Sunn O)))'s Greg Anderson) released Boris's rock/shoegaze-era albums in North America: Pink (US, 2006) and Smile (US, 2008, cat. SUNN92, with a modified tracklist and different artwork). source ↗

  • Burning Witchpath →

    Burning Witch's compilation Crippled Lucifer was released in 1998 on Southern Lord Records, the label co-founded by O'Malley and Anderson (of Sunn O))). source ↗

  • Circlepath →

    Circle's 2017 album Terminal was released internationally via Southern Lord Recordings, the label co-run by Sunn O)))'s Greg Anderson. source ↗

  • Earthpath →

    Earth's 2000s albums (Hex, The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull, and more) were released on Southern Lord, the label founded by Sunn O)))'s Greg Anderson. source ↗

  • Goatsnakesatellitepath →

    Goatsnake released records (including Black Age Blues, 2015) on Southern Lord Recordings, the label run by Sunn O)))'s Greg Anderson. source ↗

  • Khanatepath →

    Khanate's 2001 self-titled debut was released by Southern Lord Records (cat. SUNN14), the label co-founded by Sunn O)))'s Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson. source ↗

  • Nadjapath →

    Nadja's 2021 album Luminous Rot was released via Southern Lord Recordings. source ↗

  • Ompath →

    Om's third studio album Pilgrimage (2007) was released on Southern Lord Recordings, the label co-run by Sunn O)))'s Greg Anderson. source ↗

  • Orthodoxpath →

    Southern Lord Records (label hub anchored at Sunn O)))) released the double-vinyl edition of debut album Gran Poder (2007, cat. SUNN 069) with a bonus Black Sabbath cover. source ↗

  • Pelicanpath →

    By 2009 Pelican signed to Southern Lord Records - the label founded by Sunn O))) guitarist Greg Anderson - which released Ephemeral and What We All Come to Need and subsequent albums. source ↗

  • Thorr's Hammerpath →

    Dommedagsnatt's 1998 CD reissue was the very first release on Southern Lord Records, the label run by Sunn O)))'s Greg Anderson. source ↗

  • Thronespath →

    Southern Lord released Day Late, Dollar Short (2005), compiling Thrones' 1994-2001 material — anchored at Sunn O))), the label founders' band. source ↗

tour
  • Goatsnakesatellitepath →

    Goatsnake and Sunn O))) (guitarist Greg Anderson's other band) co-toured the UK in 2000 alongside Orange Goblin. source ↗

artwork · 25
  • 6:33path →

    Both bands' cover art/design work was done by freelance artist Seldon Hunt: 6:33's "Orphan Of Good Manners" (2011) and Sunn O)))'s "Black One" (2005). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7, the exception to hub-and-spoke) — Hunt is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. One representative Discogs credit cited; the companion credit is logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Acid Mothers Templepath →

    Both bands' cover art was done by freelance artist Seldon Hunt (Discogs id 652485): Acid Mothers Temple's "Crystal Rainbow Pyramid Under The Stars" (2007) and this band's "Black One" (2005). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7); AMT joins the Seldon Hunt cluster as its 19th atlas client. source ↗

  • Baronesspath →

    Both bands' cover art/design work was done by freelance artist Aaron Horkey: Baroness's "Yellow & Green" (2012, Logo By) and Sunn O)))'s "CroMonolithic Remixes For An Iron Age" (2004, Artwork). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7, the exception to hub-and-spoke) — Horkey is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. One representative Discogs credit cited; the companion credit is logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Blind Idiot Godpath →

    Both bands' cover art/design work was done by freelance artist Seldon Hunt: Blind Idiot God's "Before Ever After" (2015) and Sunn O)))'s "Black One" (2005). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7, the exception to hub-and-spoke) — Hunt is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. One representative Discogs credit cited; the companion credit is logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Boris (rock/shoegaze era)path →

    Stephen O'Malley of Sunn O))) created the artwork for the US Southern Lord edition of Boris's Smile (2008), which also carried a modified tracklist. source ↗

  • Burning Witchpath →

    Both bands' cover art/design work was done by freelance artist Seldon Hunt: Burning Witch's "Crippled Lucifer" (2008) and Sunn O)))'s "Black One" (2005). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7, the exception to hub-and-spoke) — Hunt is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. One representative Discogs credit cited; the companion credit is logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Convergepath →

    Both bands' cover art/design work was done by freelance artist Aaron Horkey: Converge's "Bloodmoon•I" (2021, Typography, with Chelsea Wolfe) and Sunn O)))'s "CroMonolithic Remixes For An Iron Age" (2004, Artwork). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7, the exception to hub-and-spoke) — Horkey is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. One representative Discogs credit cited; the companion credit is logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Earthpath →

    Stephen O'Malley of Sunn O))) is credited with "Design" on Earth's Hex; Or Printing in the Infernal Method (2005). source ↗

  • Ephel Duathpath →

    Both bands' cover art/design work was done by freelance artist Seldon Hunt: Ephel Duath's "Through My Dog's Eyes." (2009) and Sunn O)))'s "Black One" (2005). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7, the exception to hub-and-spoke) — Hunt is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. One representative Discogs credit cited; the companion credit is logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defectspath →

    Both bands' cover art/design work was done by freelance artist Seldon Hunt: Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects's "Sol Niger Within" (2016) and Sunn O)))'s "Black One" (2005). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7, the exception to hub-and-spoke) — Hunt is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. One representative Discogs credit cited; the companion credit is logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Goatsnakesatellitepath →

    Both bands' cover art/design work was done by freelance artist Seldon Hunt: Goatsnake's "1" (2022) and Sunn O)))'s "Black One" (2005). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7, the exception to hub-and-spoke) — Hunt is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. One representative Discogs credit cited; the companion credit is logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • House of Low Culturepath →

    Both bands' cover art/design work was done by freelance artist Seldon Hunt: House of Low Culture's "Live From The House Of Low Temperature!" (2003) and Sunn O)))'s "Black One" (2005). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7, the exception to hub-and-spoke) — Hunt is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. One representative Discogs credit cited; the companion credit is logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Isispath →

    Both bands' cover art/design work was done by freelance artist Aaron Horkey: Isis's "Shades Of The Swarm" (2008, box cover/insert Illustration) and Sunn O)))'s "CroMonolithic Remixes For An Iron Age" (2004, Artwork). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7, the exception to hub-and-spoke) — Horkey is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. One representative Discogs credit cited; the companion credit is logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Jazkamer (Jazzkammer)path →

    Both bands' cover art was done by freelance artist Justin Bartlett (VBERKVLT): Jazkamer's "We Want Epic Drama" (2010, Artwork) and Sunn O)))'s "La Mort Noir Dans Esch / Alzette" (2006, Illustration). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7, the exception to hub-and-spoke) — Bartlett is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. One representative Discogs credit cited; the companion credit is logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Jesupath →

    Both bands' cover art/design work was done by freelance artist Seldon Hunt: Jesu's "Sun Down / Sun Rise" (2007) and Sunn O)))'s "Black One" (2005). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7, the exception to hub-and-spoke) — Hunt is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. One representative Discogs credit cited; the companion credit is logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Khlystpath →

    Both bands' cover art/design work was done by freelance artist Stephen Kasner: Khlyst's "Chaos Is My Name" (2006) and Sunn O)))'s "ØØ Void" (2008). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7) — Stephen Kasner is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. One representative Discogs credit cited; the companion credit is logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • KK Nullpath →

    Both bands' cover art/design work was done by freelance artist Seldon Hunt: KK Null's "Extropy" (2009) and Sunn O)))'s "Black One" (2005). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7, the exception to hub-and-spoke) — Hunt is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. One representative Discogs credit cited; the companion credit is logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Lotus Eaterspath →

    Both bands' cover art/design work was done by freelance artist Seldon Hunt: Lotus Eaters's "Lotus Eaters" (2002) and Sunn O)))'s "Black One" (2005). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7, the exception to hub-and-spoke) — Hunt is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. One representative Discogs credit cited; the companion credit is logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Made Out of Babiespath →

    Both bands' cover art/design work was done by freelance artist Seldon Hunt: Made Out of Babies's "The Ruiner" (2008) and Sunn O)))'s "Black One" (2005). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7, the exception to hub-and-spoke) — Hunt is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. One representative Discogs credit cited; the companion credit is logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Nadjapath →

    Both bands' cover art/design work was done by freelance artist Seldon Hunt: Nadja's "Thaumogenesis" (2007) and Sunn O)))'s "Black One" (2005). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7, the exception to hub-and-spoke) — Hunt is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. One representative Discogs credit cited; the companion credit is logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Neurosispath →

    Both bands' cover art/design work was done by freelance artist Seldon Hunt: Neurosis's "A Sun That Never Sets" (2001) and Sunn O)))'s "Black One" (2005). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7, the exception to hub-and-spoke) — Hunt is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. One representative Discogs credit cited; the companion credit is logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Orthodoxpath →

    Both bands' cover art/design work was done by freelance artist Seldon Hunt: Orthodox's "Amanecer En Puerta Oscura" (2007) and Sunn O)))'s "Black One" (2005). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7, the exception to hub-and-spoke) — Hunt is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. One representative Discogs credit cited; the companion credit is logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Pelicanpath →

    Both bands' cover art/design work was done by freelance artist Seldon Hunt: Pelican's "Live In Chicago 6/11/03" (2005) and Sunn O)))'s "Black One" (2005). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7, the exception to hub-and-spoke) — Hunt is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. One representative Discogs credit cited; the companion credit is logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • Pitch Black Forecastsatellitepath →

    Both bands' cover art/design work was done by freelance artist Stephen Kasner: Pitch Black Forecast's "Absentee" (2008) and Sunn O)))'s "ØØ Void" (2008). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7) — Stephen Kasner is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. One representative Discogs credit cited; the companion credit is logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

  • The Oceanpath →

    Both bands' cover art/design work was done by freelance artist Seldon Hunt: Sunn O)))'s "Black One" (2005) and The Ocean's "Pelagial" (2013). Pairwise artwork tie per the 2026-08-07 ruling (PROTOCOL rule 7, the exception to hub-and-spoke) — Hunt is not an atlas band member so there is no anchor band. One representative Discogs credit cited; the companion credit is logged in research/edge-taxonomy-ledger.json. source ↗

label · 11
1 split release

FURTHER LISTENING

Nearest score profiles in the atlas.

  • Southern Lord / droneEI 29
    Sum Of R
    DroneAmbientTheatrical

    Reto Mäder's long-running Sum Of R has cycled through several lineups since 2008; the current Swiss-Finnish incarnation with Marko Neuman (vocals) and Jukka Rämänen (drums) pushes furthest into ritual drone-doom territory on 2025's Spectral, an 'acoustic séance' of tape manipulation, mellotron, and psychedelic doom built around sustained tones rather than riffs. The record pulls in a small constellation of scene names as guests — Juho Vanhanen of Oranssi Pazuzu, Vicotnik of Dødheimsgård, and G. Stuart Dahlquist of Burning Witch/Goatsnake — placing the band at a crossroads of drone, post-metal, and avant-black circles, even as Mäder's other projects (Ural Umbo, Hexvessel, Dark Buddha Rising) sit outside this atlas.

  • UnaffiliatedEI 22
    Reverorum ib Malacht
    DroneAmbientTheatrical

    Reverorum ib Malacht is a Swedish black metal outfit formed by Karl Hieronymus Emil Lundin and Karl Axel Mikael Mårtensson, evolving out of earlier projects PTC and Symphonia Sacrosancta Phasmatvm. Both members converted to Roman Catholicism between 2007 and 2009, and the band has since styled its output as 'Roman Catholic Black Metal,' blending droning dark ambient passages, sampled Latin liturgy, church bells, and organ with distorted black metal. Their album De Mysteriis Dom Christi is a deliberate title-inversion of Mayhem's De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas.

  • UnaffiliatedEI 18
    Ghostmass (大鬼眾)
    DroneAmbientDoom

    Ghostmass (大鬼眾) is a Beijing improvisation collective formed in 2021 from a shared passion for drone, doom, and extreme metal, filtered through harsh noise and free improvisation. Reviewer Michael Scharf (Outside Noise) describes their 2024 album 'Ghost Meditation' as evolving from chaotic noise toward a more structured, doom-metal-inspired sound, with anguished throat-singing-style vocals over grating feedback and power electronics. The lineup draws members from Beijing noise-rock scene acts Carsick Cars and Soviet Pop.

  • UnaffiliatedEI 19
    Haiku Funeral
    DroneAmbientTheatrical

    Haiku Funeral is a ritualistic industrial/black-metal-adjacent project born in a Marseille studio on Halloween 2008, built around Bulgarian multi-instrumentalist Dimitar Dimitrov (electronics, keyboards, vocals) and American bassist/vocalist William Kopecky, with Finnish drummer David Lillkvist also credited on record. Their sound is a hallucinogenic blend of occult drone, droning doom, and cinematic/ritual ambient, colored by theremin, e-bow, spring-drum, children's harp, and sitar - one reviewer singled out the sitar-and-tribal-percussion 'Cherni Shamani' as evoking cyber-shamanic trance. Six albums deep (most recently Drown Their Moons in Blood, 2021, via Aesthetic Death), they occupy a genuinely fringe niche between black metal atmosphere and psychedelic ritual ambient.

    compare profiles →
  • UnaffiliatedEI 28
    Terra Tenebrosa
    DroneTheatricalAmbient

    Terra Tenebrosa were a masked, pseudonymous Swedish avant-garde/industrial black metal project from Stockholm (2009-2021), fronted by 'The Cuckoo' (Tomas Hallbom) alongside 'Hisperdal' and 'Hibernal.' Rising out of the ashes of cult post-hardcore band Breach, their three albums - The Tunnels (2011), The Purging (2013), and The Reverses (2016) on Debemur Morti Productions - combine black metal shrieks with industrial noise, sludge-doom heaviness, and dark-ambient drone. The Cuckoo's own history gives the band a direct, sourced tie to the atlas: he was a member of The Ocean (as 'The Ocean Collective,' 2004-2007) and appeared as one of the credited guest vocalists on The Ocean's 2006 album Aeolian.

    compare profiles →
  • Blackgaze / avant-blackEI 23
    Locrian
    DroneAmbientBlack

    Locrian are an American experimental trio formed in late 2005 in Chicago by André Foisy and Terence Hannum, with drummer Steven Hess joining permanently in 2010. AllMusic characterizes their sound as an eclectic mixture of black metal, electronics, drone and noise rock, shot through with ambient and industrial textures and dystopic, apocalyptic imagery. In 2012 they made the collaborative album Bless Them That Curse You with Mamiffer, released on Profound Lore alongside Sige and Utech.

  • Southern Lord / droneEI 33
    Kovtun
    DroneAmbientTheatrical

    Kovtun is the (sur)realist noise/dark-ambient project of São Paulo, Brazil musician Raphael Mandra, active since around 2012-2013 with a large, prolific discography of atmospheric, ritualistic releases. Recent work like Black Goat (2026) layers post-metal and doom weight, calculated black metal flirtations, oppressive drone and improvised jazz textures over a dark-ambient/noise foundation. Mandra also records as Rádio Morto (citing Neurosis, Swans and Burzum as influences) and collaborated with fellow Brazilian act Umbilichaos on the 2018 album Belong to Nothing, conceived after a Neurosis show.

  • Southern Lord / droneEI 32
    KTL
    DroneAmbientTheatrical

    KTL was a drone/electronic duo formed in 2006 by guitarist Stephen O'Malley (of Sunn O))) and electronic musician Peter Rehberg (Pita, Editions Mego). The project originated as the score for Gisele Vienne and Dennis Cooper's theatre production Kindertotenlieder, which premiered in Brest, France, in March 2007. Working across drone metal, dark ambient, and noise, the duo released six drone-doom albums between 2006 and 2021 on labels including Editions Mego and Thrill Jockey.

  • Southern Lord / droneEI 25
    Khlyst
    DroneTheatricalDoom

    Khlyst is an American experimental drone/doom project formed in New York in 2006, built around guitarist James Plotkin (Khanate, OLD, Phantomsmasher), Norwegian vocalist Runhild Gammelsæter (Thorr's Hammer), and drummer Tim Wyskida (Khanate, Blind Idiot God). Their sole album, the dually-titled "Chaos Is My Name" / "Kaos er mitt navn," was released by Hydra Head Records in October 2006. Across eight Roman-numeral-titled pieces it alternates Gammelsæter's shrieked, free-form vocals with eerie ambient guitar and percussion soundscapes.

  • Southern Lord / droneEI 24
    Nazoranai
    DroneTheatricalAmbient

    Nazoranai is an improvising power trio formed in 2011 by Keiji Haino (guitar, vocals, synth), Stephen O'Malley of Sunn O))) (bass) and Oren Ambarchi (drums), issuing its self-titled live debut on O'Malley's Ideologic Organ imprint in 2012. The name signals a stance against pure free improvisation, favoring a more deliberate approach as the trio moves from sparse, post-industrial landscapes into huge firestorms of riff and distortion. Its genesis traces to a 2006 introduction between Haino and O'Malley via Ambarchi.

    compare profiles →
1a9cfef