Sunn O))) are to release a new studio album this Winter, the Quietus is quaking with joy to report. Kannon will be the first Sunn 0)))nly album since beyond-magnificent 2009 album of the year Monoliths & Dimensions, and follows last year's collaboration with Scott Walker, Soused. We are told that Kannon has roots in Soused and Sunn 0)))'s Ulver collaboration from 2013, and will consist of "three pieces of a triadic whole: Kannon 1, 2 and 3."

The album was recorded with Randall Dunn and features long term allies and collaborators including Attila Csihar, Oren Ambarchi, Rex Ritter, and Steve Moore. We're also told that "It is possibly the most figurative album SUNN O))) has created, which is unusual as they usually dwell in layers of abstraction and subjectivity. On the other hand the album is the most outright “metal” in years, drawing personal associations and memories of cherished albums like Panzerfaust and Twilight Of The Gods again to the forefront of consciousness. Kannon is also very close to the cyclical character of mantra which the band has evolved into as a living creature, the enormity of intense sensate detail and manifestation of the live in concert element of SUNN O))), the organism that has flourished, metamorphosed and transcended tremendously over the past ten years."

The title is explained thus: "The literal representation of Kannon is as an aspect of Buddha: specifically “goddess of mercy” or “Perceiving the Sounds (or Cries) of the World”. She is also sometimes commonly known as the Guanyin Bodhisattva (Chinese: 觀音菩薩) amongst a plurality of other forms. There is a rich lineage behind this idea tracing back through many Asian belief systems, with as many names and cultural personifications of the idea. "

Kannon will be released on vinyl, CD and download via Southern Lord on December 4th, and features portraits shot in the Emanuel Vingeland mausoleum in Oslo.