Live Review: SUNN O))) [Project House, Leeds] July 1, 2026

The air at Project House in Leeds is REALLY thick with anticipation for a lineup that promises to drag the audience through entirely different dimensions of heavy alternative sounds. Billed as an evening of sonic extremes, the pairing of Black Mountain (in support) and SUNN O))) offer a suitably mind-bending journey from hypnotic, retro-tinged psychedelia to sheer, terrifying auditory oomph! It is a gig that doesn’t just demand to be heard; it demands to be felt. SO MUCH DOOM IN THE ROOM!

Image: Eddie Logie

Black Mountain open the proceedings with a set dripping in witchy psychedelia. Their performance is a masterful alchemy of influences, frequently evoking the hazy, acoustic-driven melancholia of Mazzy Star while firmly anchoring themselves in the hallucinogenic roots of the Paisley Underground movement. There are brilliant, floating moments where ethereal vocal layerings channel the Cocteau Twins too, only to seamlessly downshift into a brooding, Portishead-esque groove. Yet, just as the crowd is fully lulled, the band fiercely pivots, delivering gritty, bluesy riffs that grounded their expansive sound with a raw, earthy swagger.

As the stage turns over for the headliners, the atmosphere in Project House shifts from hazy warmth to something a little sinister. An almost suffocating wall of fog bleeds into the room for the absolute visual deprivation that SUNN O))) demand for their rituals. The legendary drone metal titans announce their arrival with a menacing Venom sample serving as an intro, immediately extinguishing any lingering light and replacing it with a creeping, undeniable feeling of dread.

The longer the note, the more dread, as they say!

When the robed figures finally strike their first droning chords, the sheer volume and tone feels almost evil. It is a powerful, unrelenting sonic assault where you don’t just hear the frequencies; you feel the immense, sludgy sound waves vibrating deep within your bones. The unending drone is a physical weight pressing against the chest, transforming the venue into a cavern of suffocating doom. For those willing to surrender to the void, SUNN O))) deliver an unforgettable masterclass in extreme minimalism, leaving the crowd completely pulverised by the DOOM.