Sunn Amps and Smashed Guitars Live

by Bradley Torreano Molded out of several demos and live performances, Sunn Amps and Smashed Guitars is either a masterpiece of noise or a plodding mess. The first song is a long jam taken from a 1995 London concert, while the other four songs are demos from 1990 (which includes a song with Kurt Cobain on vocals). Dylan Carlson is a very good guitarist, and his ambient metal ideas are quite intriguing. But listening to the first track on this album is like getting teeth pulled; only the most dedicated noise junky would want to hear Carlson wank away like a metalhead teenager for a half an hour. Rumor has it that during the performance, Carlson let two fans take over playing the song for a while, and if this is true then it makes it even sadder that there is no point where a change like this is audible. This one track completely sinks the feel of the album, which otherwise shows Earth in the days when they could still compose a fairly memorable sludge metal song. "Geometry of a Murder" is a good example; it rolls along, with its Tony Iommi chords leveling everything in its path with incredible power. But it can do this because it has an actual structure to it; there is no feedback solo for the sake of feedback. "Divine and Bright" is another highlight, although the influence of Kurt Cobain is obvious, as this song is practically pop music compared to the rest of the album. Even "German Dental Work" is a nice chunk of heaviness that would do Godflesh frontman Justin Broadrick proud. Sadly, the last track, "Dissolution 1," is another boring yawner that would unfortunately predict the direction their career would take. Although there are at least three good songs buried in this compilation, the only real reason to get this would be to hear some unreleased Cobain material. The Earth 2 album was their definitive statement, while the rest of their career more or less gave into the boring side of the music. Only dedicated fans of Earth or Cobain need apply.