Altar (album)
Encyclopedia
Altar is a collaboration album between Japan
ese doom
band Boris
and American
drone doom duo Sunn O)))
, released on October 31, 2006 through Southern Lord Records
. A limited two-CD edition was released on October 23 via Southern Lord with a 28 minute bonus track with Sunn O))), Boris, and Dylan Carlson
, titled "Her Lips Were Wet with Venom". Inoxia Records
released their own two-CD version in 2006 which features a bonus track on the first disc, "The Sinking Belle (Black Sheep)", and also features "Her Lips Were Wet with Venom" on disc 2. The triple-vinyl edition by Southern Lord contains all of the songs from their two-CD edition, additional pictures, and liner notes by Kim Thayil
. The Daymare 3LP version was released March 23, 2007 and features a bonus track not found on any other version of this release: "The Sinking Belle (White Sheep)".
In addition to major players Sunn O))) and Boris, Altar also boasts an extensive roster of guest musicians/collaborators such as Kim Thayil
(Soundgarden
), Joe Preston
(Earth
, Thrones
, Melvins, High on Fire
), Phil Wandscher
and Jesse Sykes
(both of Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter) as well as long time Sunn O))) collaborators TOS Niewenhuizen and Rex Ritter.
On December 10, 2007, the bands collaborated at the Forum
in London
along with a number of the guests featured on Altar for a live performance. The bands are confirmed to repeat this collaboration at the ATP New York 2010
music festival in Monticello,
New York in September 2010. A 3LP picture disc
version of the album, limited to 500
copies, was sold exclusively at this London show.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese doom
Doom metal
Doom metal is an extreme form of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other metal genres...
band Boris
Boris (band)
is a Japanese experimental rock band, known for often combining and switching between different music genres including drone metal, sludge metal, noise rock, psychedelic rock, ambient and pop...
and American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
drone doom duo Sunn O)))
Sunn O)))
Sunn O))) is an American doom metal band known for its synthesis of diverse genres including drone, ambient, noise, and black metal. Supported by a varying cast of collaborators, the band has two core members: Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson .-History:Sunn O))) is named after the Sunn...
, released on October 31, 2006 through Southern Lord Records
Southern Lord Records
Southern Lord is an American record label that was founded in 1998 by Greg Anderson, specializing in what could broadly be classified as experimental heavy metal, particularly the doom metal, stoner rock, and drone metal sub-genres. Some of the more notable artists on the label include Earth, Om,...
. A limited two-CD edition was released on October 23 via Southern Lord with a 28 minute bonus track with Sunn O))), Boris, and Dylan Carlson
Dylan Carlson
Dylan Carlson is the lead guitarist, lead singer, and only constant member of the Drone doom group Earth.Carlson was born in Seattle, Washington, United States. His father worked for the Department of Defense, and, as a result, as a child he moved quite frequently, living in Philadelphia, Texas,...
, titled "Her Lips Were Wet with Venom". Inoxia Records
Inoxia Records
Inoxia Records is a Japanese record label that is closely related to the Japanese band Boris. In addition to releasing material, they also distribute other Japanese labels such as Daymare Recordings, Pedal Records, and Diwphalanx Records.-Discography:...
released their own two-CD version in 2006 which features a bonus track on the first disc, "The Sinking Belle (Black Sheep)", and also features "Her Lips Were Wet with Venom" on disc 2. The triple-vinyl edition by Southern Lord contains all of the songs from their two-CD edition, additional pictures, and liner notes by Kim Thayil
Kim Thayil
Kim Thayil is an American guitarist best known as the lead guitarist of the Seattle-based grunge band Soundgarden, which he cofounded with singer Chris Cornell and bassist Hiro Yamamoto in 1984...
. The Daymare 3LP version was released March 23, 2007 and features a bonus track not found on any other version of this release: "The Sinking Belle (White Sheep)".
In addition to major players Sunn O))) and Boris, Altar also boasts an extensive roster of guest musicians/collaborators such as Kim Thayil
Kim Thayil
Kim Thayil is an American guitarist best known as the lead guitarist of the Seattle-based grunge band Soundgarden, which he cofounded with singer Chris Cornell and bassist Hiro Yamamoto in 1984...
(Soundgarden
Soundgarden
Soundgarden is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984 by singer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil, and bassist Hiro Yamamoto...
), Joe Preston
Joe Preston (bassist)
Joe Preston is a rock bass guitarist and a former band member of Earth, The Melvins, Men's Recovery Project, The Need and High on Fire. Preston has also played with Sunn O))), and has a solo project called Thrones. Joe Preston learned bass from Alexander Giles. In 2007, he joined Harvey Milk in...
(Earth
Earth (band)
Earth is an American musical group based in Seattle, Washington, formed in 1989 and led by guitarist Dylan Carlson.Earth's music is nearly all instrumental, and can be divided into two distinct stages...
, Thrones
Thrones (band)
Thrones is the solo project of bassist Joe Preston.-Biography:Thrones began in 1994 with an untitled cassette on the Punk in My Vitamins? label. He soon released the "Reddleman" single. In 1996, Thrones signed to Communion Records to issue the full-length album Alraune...
, Melvins, High on Fire
High on Fire
High on Fire is a stoner metal band from Oakland, California, that was formed in 1998. Matt Pike, the band's frontman and founder, previously played guitar for the influential stoner doom band Sleep.-History:...
), Phil Wandscher
Phil Wandscher
Phil Wandscher is the former guitarist of the alt-country band Whiskeytown, and is currently a member of Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter.Wandscher appeared on Death Cab For Cutie's album Transatlanticism, singing backing vocals on the album's title track...
and Jesse Sykes
Jesse Sykes
Christened Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter in 2002 , singer-songwriter Jesse Sykes and guitarist Phil Wandscher , began what has become their long lived musical partnership....
(both of Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter) as well as long time Sunn O))) collaborators TOS Niewenhuizen and Rex Ritter.
On December 10, 2007, the bands collaborated at the Forum
London Forum
The London Forum, or sometimes Kentish Town Forum is a well-known venue for concerts in Kentish Town, London, United Kingdom owned by the MAMA Group. The venue was built in 1934 and was originally used as an art deco cinema. After the closure of the cinema, The Town & Country Club was established...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
along with a number of the guests featured on Altar for a live performance. The bands are confirmed to repeat this collaboration at the ATP New York 2010
All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)
All Tomorrow's Parties is a music festival which takes place at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex and Butlin's holiday camp in Minehead, Somerset, England....
music festival in Monticello,
New York in September 2010. A 3LP picture disc
Picture disc
Picture discs are gramophone records that show images on their playing surface, rather than being of plain black or coloured vinyl.-Development:...
version of the album, limited to 500
copies, was sold exclusively at this London show.
Disc one: Altar: prelude (SatanOscillateMyMetallicSonatas)
- "Her Lips Were Wet With Venom" – 28:14
- Atsuo - drumDrumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s - Greg Anderson - guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
- Stephen O'Malley - guitar
- Wata - lead guitar
- Takeshi - guitar & bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Dylan Carlson - guitar
- Tos Nieuwenhuizen - Korg MS-20Korg MS-20The Korg MS-20 is a patchable semi-modular monophonic synthesizer which Korg released in 1978 and which was in production until 1983. It was part of Korg's MS series of instruments, which also included the single oscillator MS-10, the keyboardless MS-50 module, and the SQ-10 sequencer...
- Rex Ritter - Moog TaurusMoog TaurusThe Moog Taurus is a foot-operated analog synthesizer designed and manufactured by Moog Music from 1974 or 1975 to 1981. Commonly called the Taurus I, it has a 13-note organ-style pedal board similar to the pedal keyboard of a spinet organ.-History:...
- Atsuo - drum
Disc two: Altar
- "Etna" – 9:51
- Greg Anderson: guitar
- Atsuo: drums
- Stephen O'Malley: guitar
- Takeshi: guitar & bass
- Wata: lead guitar
- "N.L.T." – 3:49
- Atsuo: bowed cymbalCymbalCymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
& gongGongA gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet.... - Bill Herzog: upright bass
- Atsuo: bowed cymbal
- "The Sinking Belle (Blue Sheep)" – 7:37
- Jesse SykesJesse SykesChristened Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter in 2002 , singer-songwriter Jesse Sykes and guitarist Phil Wandscher , began what has become their long lived musical partnership....
: vocals - Takeshi: guitar
- Wata: guitar, space echoRoland RE-201The Roland RE-201, commonly known as the Space Echo, is an audio analog delay effects unit produced by the Roland Corporation.A tape echo device records incoming audio to a loop of magnetic tape, then replays the audio over a series of several playback heads before it is erased again by new...
- Stephen O'Malley: pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
- Greg Anderson: bass guitar
- Atsuo: trapsElectronic filterElectronic filters are electronic circuits which perform signal processing functions, specifically to remove unwanted frequency components from the signal, to enhance wanted ones, or both...
- Bill Herzog & Phil Wandscher: vocals
- Adrienne Davies: percussion
- Jesse Sykes
- "Akuma no Kuma" – 7:52
- Atsuo: lead drums
- Joe Preston: vocoderVocoderA vocoder is an analysis/synthesis system, mostly used for speech. In the encoder, the input is passed through a multiband filter, each band is passed through an envelope follower, and the control signals from the envelope followers are communicated to the decoder...
- Greg Anderson:Moog RogueMoog RogueThe Moog Rogue is a monophonic analog synthesizer produced by the original Moog Music in the early 1980s, but, was not designed by Bob Moog. Very basic in its design and use, the Rogue featured a 32-note keyboard and two VCOs. VCO number 2 is tunable between a half-step below to an octave above...
- Stephen O'Malley: Korg MS-20
- Bill Herzog: snareSnare drumThe snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
- Steve Moore: tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
- TOS Nieuwenhuizen: oberheimOberheimOberheim Electronics is an American company, founded in 1969 by Tom Oberheim , which manufactured audio synthesizers and a variety of other electronic musical instruments.-Oberheim Electronics:...
- Troy Swanson: oberheim
- Randall Dunn: Korg MS-20, sherman filter bankFilter bankIn signal processing, a filter bank is an array of band-pass filters that separates the input signal into multiple components, each one carrying a single frequency subband of the original signal. One application of a filter bank is a graphic equalizer, which can attenuate the components...
, echoplexEchoplexThe Echoplex is a tape delay effect, first made in 1959. Designed by Mike Battle, the Echoplex set a standard for the effect in the 1960s and was used by some of the most notable guitar players of the era; original Echoplexes are highly sought after.... - Mell Dettmer: Roland SH-101Roland SH-101Roland SH-101 is a synthesizer from the early 1980s, manufactured by Roland. It is a small, 32 key, monophonic analog synthesizer. It features one oscillator with 3 simultaneous waveforms, an 'octave-divided' square sub-oscillator, triangle and square/pwm waveform. It has a low-pass filter/VCF...
- "Fried Eagle Mind" – 9:47
- Wata: vocals & space guitar
- Stephen O'Malley: clandestine guitar, califoneCalifoneCalifone is an experimental rock band from Chicago. The band is named after Califone International, an audio equipment manufacturer. Their work has been critically acclaimed....
- Takeshi: bottle lead guitar
- Greg Anderson: bass guitar
- TOS Nieuwenhuizen: Moog Taurus
- Troy Swanson: oberheim 4 voice
- Randall Dunn: Korg MS-20 & natural trouble
- "The Sinking Belle (Black Sheep)" - 5:05 (Japanese CD bonus track)
- Wata: space echo guitar
- Eyvind Kang: violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
, violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello.... - TOS Nieuwenhuizen: Moog Taurus
- Randall Dunn: Korg MS-20
- "The Sinking Belle (White Sheep)" - 4:36 (Japanese 3LP bonus track)
- Takeshi: guitar
- Wata: guitar, space echo
- Stephen O'Malley: piano
- Greg Anderson: bass
- Atsuo: traps
- Eyvind Kang: viola, violin
- Tos Nieuwenhuizen: moog taurus
- Randall Dunn: korg MS-20
- "Blood Swamp" – 14:46
- Atsuo: gong
- Greg Anderson: guitar
- Stephen O'Malley: guitar
- Wata: guitar
- Takeshi: guitar & bass
- Kim Thayil: guitar
- Rex Ritter: Moog Taurus
- TOS Nieuwenhuizen: Moog Rogue
Production
- Produced By Sunn O)))
- Recorded, Engineered & Mixed By Randall Dunn
- Mastered By Mell Dettmer
Pressing History
| Year | Label | Format | Country | Out of Print? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Southern Lord Southern Lord Records Southern Lord is an American record label that was founded in 1998 by Greg Anderson, specializing in what could broadly be classified as experimental heavy metal, particularly the doom metal, stoner rock, and drone metal sub-genres. Some of the more notable artists on the label include Earth, Om,... |
CD | U.S. United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
No | |
| 2006 | Southern Lord Southern Lord Records Southern Lord is an American record label that was founded in 1998 by Greg Anderson, specializing in what could broadly be classified as experimental heavy metal, particularly the doom metal, stoner rock, and drone metal sub-genres. Some of the more notable artists on the label include Earth, Om,... |
2CD | U.S. United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
Yes | Ltd. 5000. Includes bonus track "Her Lips Were Wet with Venom" |
| 2006 | Inoxia Records Inoxia Records Inoxia Records is a Japanese record label that is closely related to the Japanese band Boris. In addition to releasing material, they also distribute other Japanese labels such as Daymare Recordings, Pedal Records, and Diwphalanx Records.-Discography:... |
2CD | Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south... |
Yes | Ltd. 1000. Includes bonus tracks "The Sinking Belle (Black Sheep)" and "Her Lips Were Wet with Venom" |
| 2006 | Southern Lord Southern Lord Records Southern Lord is an American record label that was founded in 1998 by Greg Anderson, specializing in what could broadly be classified as experimental heavy metal, particularly the doom metal, stoner rock, and drone metal sub-genres. Some of the more notable artists on the label include Earth, Om,... |
3LP | U.S. United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
Yes | Ltd. 10,600. Includes bonus track, "Her Lips Were Wet with Venom" |
| 2007 | Inoxia Records Inoxia Records Inoxia Records is a Japanese record label that is closely related to the Japanese band Boris. In addition to releasing material, they also distribute other Japanese labels such as Daymare Recordings, Pedal Records, and Diwphalanx Records.-Discography:... |
3LP | Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south... |
Yes | Ltd. 1000. Includes bonus tracks "The Sinking Belle (White Sheep)" and "Her Lips Were Wet with Venom" |
| 2007 | Southern Lord Southern Lord Records Southern Lord is an American record label that was founded in 1998 by Greg Anderson, specializing in what could broadly be classified as experimental heavy metal, particularly the doom metal, stoner rock, and drone metal sub-genres. Some of the more notable artists on the label include Earth, Om,... |
3LP Pic Disc | U.S. United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
Yes | Ltd 500. Originally sold at London performance on December 10, 2007 |