Stephen O'Malley

Born in Seattle in 1974 and based in Paris, Stephen O'Malley has developed since the early 1990s a body of work situated between drone metal, doom metal, dark ambient and experimental music. A guitarist, composer and artistic director, he co-founded Sunn O))) with Greg Anderson in 1998 — a central project in a career that also includes Thorr's Hammer, Burning Witch, Khanate, KTL, Æthenor and numerous collaborations rooted in improvisation and ultra-slow sonic forms. His writing depends on extended drones, repetition, saturation and a pronounced attention to texture, with a use of volume and duration that sometimes brings his music close to sound installation. With Sunn O))), O'Malley contributed to Black One (2005), Monoliths & Dimensions (2009), Life Metal (2019) and Pyroclasts (2019); with Khanate he appears on Things Viral (2003), Capture & Release (2005) and To Be Cruel (2023). As a solo artist he has released works such as Salt (2008), Gruidés (2015) and End Ground (2016), while collaborating with Boris, Scott Walker, Merzbow and stage director Gisèle Vienne. His activity also extends to graphic design and editorial direction, notably through Ideologic Organ, launched in 2011.