Pre-sale of the week is Kannon, an exuberant new release from doom metal overlords Sunn 0))), available at a discounted price prior to its release on 4th December.
Kannon was composed in the aftershadow of Sunn O)))’s immersive collaborations with Scott Walker and Ulver, and from the broad and influential wake of Monoliths & Dimensions. It’s possibly the most figurative album Sunn O))) has created, and the most outright ‘metal’ in years. At the same time it is very close to the cyclical character of mantra into which the live in-concert band has evolved.
The literal representation of Kannon is as an aspect of Buddha: specifically ‘goddess of mercy’ or ‘Perceiving the Sounds (or Cries) of the World’. She is sometimes known as the Guanyin Bodhisattva, amongst many other forms.