SUNN O))) Shoshin (初心) Duo

Support: Kali Malone

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For twenty-five years, Sunn O))) have been challenging the way we think about music. From 1999’s The Grimmrobe Demos to 2019’s Life Metal, O'Malley and Anderson have forged connections between the worlds of metal, drone, contemporary composition, jazz, and minimalism with startling results, while remaining true to the eternal principles of volume, density, and weight.

The massive guitar wave-pools that Sunn O))) create are loud though rarely harsh. Sounds start low, intensifying incrementally until they've transformed the entire listening area into a dank chamber teeming with elegant sustain. Adding to the sensory overload of the Sunn O))) experience, the duo obscures themselves in clouds of thick fog, dressing in hooded robes, periodically thrusting guitars toward the sky.

As part of Sunn O)))’s 25th anniversary in 2023 new recordings and further live performances are currently being planned, several archival titles republished (or for the first time), with more detail to be revealed in due course. All hail.

Taking the stage before Sunn O))) will be the Stockholm-based American composer and musician Kali Malone, who has been the source of some of the most quietly revelatory music of the past several years.

Malone’s compositions implement specific tuning systems in minimalist structure for pipe organ, choir, chamber music ensembles, and electroacoustic formats. Her music is rich with harmonic texture through synthetic and acoustic instrumentation in repetitive motions and extended durations, emitting distinct emotive, dynamic, and affective hues which bring forth a stunning depth of focus.

In 2016, Malone co-founded the record label and concert series XKatedral, together with Maria W Horn, in Stockholm. Following acclaimed releases The Sacrificial Code (Ideal Recordings, 2019) and Living Torch (Portraits GRM, 2022), her latest output, Does Spring Hide Its Joy, features Stephen O’Malley on electric guitar, Lucy Railton on cello, and Malone herself on tuned sine wave oscillators. The music is a study in harmonics and non-linear composition with a heightened focus on just intonation and beating interference patterns.

Photo policy

Please respect Berghain’s strict no photo or video policy. Audio recordings are likewise prohibited.

Accessibility

Caution: This show may use stroboscopic effects, will involve heavy use of fog machines, and will be very loud. Hearing protection will be available at the ticket counter.

Access is 18+

Berghain is wheelchair accessible, staff will assist with elevator usage on-site.

We offer free access for an accompanying person for holders of a »Schwerbehinderten Ausweis mit Kategorie B« card. Please get in touch with us in advance to make arrangements.

Please send questions and requests to: accessibility(at)ctm-festival.de.