Sunn O)))’s Life Pedal returns to drone once more

Back in June, iconic drone-metal icons Sunn O))) announced the Life Pedal, a brutally heavy collaboration with EarthQuaker Devices. The resultant run of 1,000 distortion pedals sold out within hours, but fortunately it’s been given a second lease of, erm, life.

EarthQuaker Devices/Sunn O))) Life Pedal — (Image credit: EarthQuaker Devices)

As per the original, the Life Pedal is designed to nail the sound of Sunn O)))’s latest album, Life Metal - minus the band’s namesake Model T amps, natch.

Onboard is an octave fuzz based on vintage Shin-Ei FY2 and FY6 pedals, run into an LM308-loaded Rat-style distortion, with added clipping switching options for op amp, asymmetric and symmetric.

Add in a second stage of clean boost, and you have one preposterously gained-out dirtbox.

You can be among the first to get hold of one over at Reverb - the price of the original was $249, so we're expecting a similar figure this time around.

Mike has been Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com since 2019, and an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict for far longer. He has a master's degree in journalism from Cardiff University, and 15 years' experience writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as 20 years of recording and live experience in original and function bands. During his career, he has interviewed the likes of John Frusciante, Chris Cornell, Tom Morello, Matt Bellamy, Kirk Hammett, Jerry Cantrell, Joe Satriani, Tom DeLonge, Radiohead's Ed O'Brien, Polyphia, Tosin Abasi, Yvette Young and many more. His writing also appears in the The Cambridge Companion to the Electric Guitar. In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock as Maebe.