Stephen O’Malley to release limited, vinyl-only LP in response to Paris attacks

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Originally posted on FACT.

Sunn O)))’s Stephen O’Malley to release Fuck Fundamentalist Pigs in a limited edition of 700 copies.

Though Sunn O))) satiated drone metal fans with their first album in six years this month, Kannon, founding member Stephen O’Malley has released a brand new solo album today. The album, titled Fuck Fundamentalist Pigs captures live recordings from a series of shows O’Malley played in Norway immediately following the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attacks in Paris (O’Malley’s home of eight years) last January.

The album is the first part of a trilogy that was intended to come out throughout 2016, but the guitarist pushed for this first volume’s early release after the terrorist attacks on Paris, last month. All profits from the album will go to the French Red Cross. In a statement, O’Malley explained the blunt title was inspired by foundational black metal band Darkthrone’s quote “With my art I am the fist. In the face of god”. Head to Boomkat, keep an eye out for volume two and three next year and read O’Malley’s heartfelt letter to fans below in full.

“On 8 January 2015, the day following the Charlie Hebdo murders in Paris (the city I have called home for the last 8 years), I started a week long tour of Norway. During this jaunt I faced the toxic reality daily of the horrible blossoming events intermittently via television. These sense of distance was both fortunate and painful … a fortunate sense of partial detachment both welcome and shameful. The Trondheim concert on 9 January (depicted here) happened on a particularly intense day in this timeline … and was personally a true example of the purging power of immersion in music.

Through a web of emotions resolving distance, disintegration, the intense power of the moment and the brutal fundamentalist, cultural and psychological aspects behind … And today the recent horror of 13 November in Paris we experienced… to say many of these thoughts intensified is an understatement. The seemingly basic outrage of the title I chose for this album seemed more apt as a cry of liberty, a small, crude attempt at the spirit of Darkthrone’s timeless statement « With my art I am the fist. In the face of god. » . Like most of us I have also sometimes fallen for the constant baiting toward anger, outrage, paranoia and fear in the daily life, often but not always misdirected, but it is not debilitating by any means.

It’s clear that as an experimental guitar player I have absolutely no political power (or even ability to articulate in those forms) but it’s important to take the opportunity to say « fuck you » in these situations. To the facist & fundamentalist movements. To the absurding of the worst sides of monotheistic belief systems. And not only the perpetrators behind these events but also on other sides including the reactive and opportunistic. Those with most to gain are the underlying authoritarians in our own societies who have opportunities to implement and increase their control even further for their gains. The « security » changes we face in fact may also result in yet further increase in the loss of liberty and freedom.

The reactions aimed toward increased separation of cultures, xenophobia, nationalism, and especially racism are highly regrettable. I hope these recordings offer a small sense of solace in the time, even for the few hundred who hear them. I know they (and this text) are ultimately useless but … I am moved and shaken. I sincerely hope my point of view evolves out of what I have written above. For the concert on this record we had a massive backline with beautiful vintage Hiwatt amplifiers, and two PAs (including a Funktion One) in the small venue Blæst, the night hosted by Nymusikk. Immersion. Bliss. This record is actually the third part of a trilogy of live solo guitar records we intended to be released on iDEAL during spring 2016… but we were able to fast-forward due to the timeliness and by personal request.

I recommend an interesting editorial, much more clearly expressed, around such topics.

All profits on this release will be donated to the French Red Cross. Know that by purchasing this record you are in turn donating to that charity.”