Drone metal

The experience of a drone metal performance has been compared by novelist John Wray in The New York Times to listening to an Indian raga in the middle of an earthquake.

[3] Earth took inspiration from the sludge metal of Melvins and the minimalist music of La Monte Young, Terry Riley and Tony Conrad.

[2] Stephen O'Malley's group Burning Witch, formed five years later, also in Seattle, continued in this tradition, incorporating unusual vocals and bursts of audio feedback.

O'Malley's subsequent group, Sunn O))),[3][4] initially formed as a tribute to Earth, is most responsible for the contemporary prominence of the drone metal style.

[14] Stephen O'Malley from Sunn O))) collaborated on an installation with artist Banks Violette, who has likened drone metal to the work of Donald Judd.