Critics give Life Metal a B-Side Breakdown of 82 (B-), from 9 reviews at outlets we track. Scores run 60 to 90.
The verdict on Life Metal
8 of 9 critics liked it, and they mostly agree.
- Highest 90 Uncut, musicOMH and Exclaim!
- Outlier 60 PopMatters, 20 points below the next-lowest score
- Career #3 of Sunn O)))'s 5 albums with a Breakdown
- By the numbers Sunn O)))'s best-reviewed album here since Monoliths & Dimensions (2009).
| The gist | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uncut via Wikipediaby Jason Anderson | 9/10 | 90 | 2019 | |
| musicOMH via Wikipediaby Bekki Bemrose | 4.5/5 | 90 | 2019 | “A magnificent, restorative record, simultaneously spacious and claustrophobically all-consuming, that resonates in the surrounding air particles” |
| Exclaim! via Wikipediaby Brayden Turenne | 9/10 | 90 | 2019 | |
| The Line of Best Fit via Wikipediaby Evan Lilly | 8.5/10 | 85 | 2019 | “This is the most complete work from the drone overlords since the now-classic Monoliths & Dimensions” |
| Pitchfork via Wikipediaby Grayson Haver Currin | 8.4/10 | 84 | 2019 | “The titanic drone metal duo returns with Steve Albini for an enormous, meticulous, back-to-basics album that shows just how compelling those basics can be.” |
| Q via Wikipediaby Ian Harrison | 4/5 | 80 | 2019 | |
| Mojo via Wikipediaby Andrew Perry | 4/5 | 80 | 2019 | |
| AllMusic via Wikipediaby Thom Jurek | 4/5 | 80 | 2019 | |
| PopMatters via Wikipediaby Nick Soulsby | 6/10 | 60 | 2019 | “The memory of Earth circa 1993-1996 spawned Sunn O))) whose tribute so transcended that point of origin that it would birth the entire genre of drone metal.” |
Every Sunday: the week's new albums, scored by the critics. Plus our own reviews when we post them. Free, and one click to leave.
Life Metal in Sunn O)))'s catalog
How these critics usually treat Sunn O)))
- Pitchfork About usual for them2 points above the other critics here. Usually 1 point below on Sunn O)))'s other albums (4).
- AllMusic About usual for them2 points below the other critics here. Usually 1 point below on Sunn O)))'s other albums (4).
More from Sunn O)))
← Earlier Monoliths & Dimensions (2009)Later → Pyroclasts (2019)
More Metal & Punk from around 2019
Would you spin it again?
Be the first to answer. Results show once 3 listeners weigh in.
How the Breakdown works
Every outlet’s score is converted to 0–100 (2/5 is 40, 5.9/10 is 59, a B+ is 88) and averaged. Grades follow the B-Side scale: A is 90–100, B 80–89, C 70–79, D 60–69, F below 60. Approval is the share of critics who scored it 75 or higher; the Breakdown shows green at 75 and up, red below. Divisiveness asks a different question: not how many critics liked it, but how close their scores are to each other. Five critics who all give it 50 are Unanimous, even though none of them liked it. The labels run Unanimous, Broad agreement, Some debate, Divided, and Contentious. Replay rate comes from listeners, not critics: yes counts fully, a few tracks counts half, no counts zero. The gist quotes each outlet’s own summary of its review. Published is the date on the review itself, read from the outlet’s page, so you can see whether an album’s reputation came at release or years later. Scores marked est. come from reviews that publish no number. Scores marked via Wikipedia are archive ratings, mostly for older albums, taken from the “Professional ratings” box on the album’s Wikipedia page (published openly through Wikidata); each links to the original review when we can find it online, and to that Wikipedia entry when we can’t. When an outlet reviewed an album twice, years apart (often for a reissue), both scores count, each labeled with its year.
A-Side marks the critics’ top tier. An album earns it automatically, from its numbers alone: a Breakdown of 90 or higher, from at least 5 reviews, with at least 75% approval. Nobody hands it out and nobody can buy it; if new reviews pull an album below the line, it loses the badge.
Leave a Reply