Drone metal fuses the drone with high-volume distorted guitar, pioneered by Earth and Sunn O)))

Drone metal joins the physical power of the drone — sustained tones at high volume — to heavy metal’s distorted guitar. Seattle’s Earth explored ‘the obvious shortcut between metal and drone-power’ in the 1990s, and from that influence Sunn O))) (formed 1998, named after the Sunn amplifier brand) became the genre’s defining act. Its method is extremely distorted, sustained guitar tones at high SPL, so slow as to be nearly static, aimed at intense somatic and psychological effect. What distinguishes it sonically from both conventional metal and classical drone is the distortion: it produces overtone-rich, entropic noise clusters rather than clear sustained pitches.

Examples

Earth (Seattle, 1990s): combined heavy guitar with near-static drone tempo. Sunn O))) (Seattle, 1998): ‘undisputed kings’ of drone metal. Distorted drones ‘dissect tones into an entropic noise.‘

Assessment

Define drone metal and state what its use of distortion changes sonically versus both conventional metal and pure-tone classical drone; name two pioneer bands and their city.