Life Metal

Life Metal
Studio album by
ReleasedApril 26, 2019 (2019-04-26)
RecordedJuly 2018
StudioElectrical Audio
(Chicago, Illinois)
GenreDrone metal
Length68:56
LabelSouthern Lord (SUNN300)
ProducerGreg Anderson, Stephen O'Malley
Sunn O))) chronology
Kannon
(2015)
Life Metal
(2019)
Pyroclasts
(2019)

Life Metal is the eighth studio album by American drone metal band Sunn O))). Through Southern Lord Records, the album received a limited release for Record Store Day on April 13, 2019, and a wide release two weeks later on April 26. Life Metal was recorded and mixed by Steve Albini entirely using analog tape. The title "life metal" is an inside joke among band members and collaborators that is meant to humorously contrast the genre death metal, and conceptually contrast anything that is "not doom-and-gloom". Sunn O))) chose this as the album's title because of both the music's shift in tone and the mindset of the band members at the time of writing. In addition to Greg Anderson and Stephen O'Malley, the album features collaborators Tos Nieuwenhuizen, Tim Midyett, Hildur Guðnadóttir, and Anthony Pateras.

Life Metal was written and recorded alongside what has been described as a "sister album"[1] or a "fraternal twin"[2] album titled Pyroclasts that was released on October 25, 2019.

  1. ^ Ludwig, Jamie (April 18, 2019). "First Listen: Sunn O))), 'Life Metal'". NPR. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  2. ^ Hernandez 2019, p. 33