Review by Tobias on April 11, 2002.

Known to some as Sunn 666 and to others as Sunn 0))) , the sound of this album is as enigmatic as the true identity of the band name. Instrumental doom without drums, “Flight of the Behemoth” is best likened to Fripp and Eno’s “No Pussyfooting” gone metal.

Like a metal meditation album, the space dirges seek to induce hallucinations in the listener. I’m not kidding. This is a fascinatingly warm ambient album that envelops you but it has a dark tone that is done very artistically. There is power here to change your mood and reduce your heart rate after a mere 30 seconds of play.

The long notes of the guitars bleed slowly, continually coating the walls of the listening space with hypnotic resonance. After only a few listens it is still very difficult to tell the tracks apart, but this is not an album where the creation of distinct tracks was the goal, it is far more along the lines of a single track divided into movements.

Obviously this is not an album for the impatient, some may find it a great album to send the listener into a deep soundscape sleep. Regardless of how it works for you, ‘Flight...’ is without doubt a very good piece of metal art.

Despite my fascination and respect for this album, I find that there are times when a little more needs to be added to the music without detracting from its droning hypnotic power. They do a little more of this on the track ‘FWTBT’ with softened gongs and something that sounded like a wordless growl in the background. If they had expanded just a little more in this area, I think this could be the finest album of its type.

Bottom Line: A fine work of dark ambient art, could use a little more variance. Sit back, relax and space out.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 7
Atmosphere: 10
Originality: 9
Production: 7
Overall: 8

Rating: 8.2 of 10