Seattle based drone metal band sunn O))) paid Iowa City’s Englert Theatre a visit on April 18th, 2026. The band, made up of Stephen O’Malley and Grey Anderson, was first formed in 1998, and carved a niche for themselves in the grunge and heavy metal music spheres by becoming one of the pioneers of the drone metal genre. Since then, the band has amassed a massive cult following by making their incredibly innovative form of experimental metal music, characterized by absurdly low tunings, deep distorted guitar chords, and a lack of clear rhythms and melodies. Though beyond anything else, they are recognized for their extremely loud, ground shaking live performances.
Before discussing their actual performance, I think it is worth noting their stage set-up. When I arrived at the Englert and sat down in my seat, my eyes were immediately drawn to the vacant stage which was full of anywhere between 15–25 massive amps and speakers facing menacingly towards the crowd. These amps, besides a handful of lights sitting behind them, were really the only things on the stage. I was aware of their incredibly loud stage presence before the show, but seeing the comical amount of speakers on stage set the scene for the night I was about to have.
Before sunn O))) took the stage, Gentry Densley–a Salt Lake City based experimental metal artist–played a 45 minute performance. This performance was unlike any live show I have been to at this point in my life. Densley stood in the middle of the stage with one guitar and played songs that mixed drone metal guitar playing and heavy metal throat singing. Each song blended into each other, making it hard to tell when one song ended and another began. It was an incredibly interesting and innovative performance that I would love to see again some day. How one person was able to create such a rich soundscape alone, I have no idea.
Densley was loud of course, but nothing could’ve prepared me for the sensation I experienced once sunn O))) finally took the stage. Through a heavy cloud of fog produced by fog machines off stage, and deep red stage lights, O’Malley and Anderson came on stage in their signature black robes. The crowd cheered after the long wait, and only stopped when both performers strummed a chord out on their guitars – a chord so loud that you could feel the sound waves rattle throughout your entire body. I cannot stress enough the power that each of their guitar strums had–it is not only that you felt the vibrations of sound throughout your whole body, but that it was truly unescapable. You could feel your chair, the walls, the ground, all rattling to their blaring music.
Their entire performance, which lasted around 90 minutes, consisted of just 5-6 songs that were stretched out as long as they possibly could. The performers would strum their guitars, slowly raise their hands up in the air, and strum their guitars again. This pattern, along with the lights continuously changing throughout the course of the night, lasted the entire show. Despite the repetitious nature of the music, I never found the performance boring or got the the sense that it was dragging on. O’Malley and Anderson’s stage presence, as well as their inventive music, was enough to make the show interesting from start to finish.
Even if you are not a drone metal fan, or even a heavy metal fan, I still think missing a sunn O))) performance would be a huge mistake. Rarely at this point in my life do I get the opportunity to say ‘that performance was truly unlike anything I have ever seen before,’ but in this case it genuinely was. I think that is reason enough to check out these performers live. With their stage presence, their near-deafening music, and their incredibly devoted fanbase, the energy in the room was palpable and undeniable. Solely given the sensation that their thunderous music gives you, sunn O))) makes the case that music, as much as being heard, is to be felt, and experiencing that sensation in person was a one of a kind experience.
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