Stephen O'Malley (sometimes referred to as SOMA; born July 15, 1974) is an American guitarist, producer, composer, and visual artist from Seattle, Washington, who has conceptualized and participated in numerous drone doom, death/doom, and experimental music bands, most notably Sunn O))).
Biography
O'Malley is a founding member of several bands including Sunn O))) (1998–present), Thorr's Hammer (1994–1995), Burning Witch (1995–1998), KTL (2005–2021), and Khanate (2000–2006). Within these projects and alone, he has collaborated with a variety of musical artists, including Greg Anderson, Scott Walker, Merzbow, Eyvind Kang, Alan Moore, Iancu Dumitrescu, Ana-Maria Avram, Alvin Lucier, F.M. Einheit, Randall Dunn, James Plotkin, Julian Cope, Joe Preston, Attila Csihar, Stuart Dempster, Mika Vainio, Peter Rehberg, Lee Dorian, Thurston Moore, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Nurse With Wound, Boris, Michio Kurihara, Jim O'Rourke, Keiji Haino, Daniel O'Sullivan & Kristoffer Rygg (in the free improvisation act Æthenor together with Vincent de Roguin and Steve Noble), Aaron Turner, David Tibet, Oren Ambarchi, Alexander Tucker, Z'EV, and more recently with Senyawa, Félicia Atkinson, Kali Malone, and François J. Bonnet.
O'Malley also produced work together with the Franco-Austrian choreographer and director Gisèle Vienne on the pieces Kindertotenlieder (2007), Jerk (2008), Eternelle Idole (2009), This Is How You Will Disappear (2010), Last Spring: A Prequel (2011), The Pyre (2013) and L'Etang (2021). He has also worked with American sculptor Banks Violette (various projects between 2005–2009), the Italian performance artist Nico Vascellari (2007–2011), Swiss art collective KLAT (2009), and the Belgian film maker Alexis Destoop (Kairos with Oren Ambarchi, 2010).
O'Malley has designed record covers since the early 1990s for groups such as Earth, Burzum, Emperor, Mayhem, Gehenna, Boris, Dissection, Oneohtrix Point Never, and Cathedral. He has also worked as a rock/metal music journalist & published a black metal fanzine called Descent in the 1990s. He was involved with creation of both the Southern Lord label and the experimental/neofolk/black metal label The Ajna Offensive. In 2011, he began curating and art directing the Ideologic Organ record label, in association with the Viennese Editions Mego.
Personal life
Although he is originally from Seattle, Washington, he lives in Paris, France.
O'Malley and American composer and organist Kali Malone announced jointly on Instagram that they had married on July 29, 2023.
Discography
With Sunn O))) The Grimmrobe Demos (demo 1998, CD 2000, 2xPLP 2003, 2xLP 2004, 3xPLP 2008) ØØ Void (CD 2000, 2xLP 2003, CD & 2LP 2011) Flight of the Behemoth (CD & 2xLP 2002) White1 (CD & 2xLP 2003) Veils It White (12" 2003) The Libations of Samhain (live CD 2003) Live Action Sampler (promotional mix 2xCD 2004) Live White (live 2xCD 2004) White2 (CD & 2xLP 2004) Cro-Monolithic Remixes for an Iron Age (12" 2004) Candlewolf of the Golden Chalice (12" 2005) Black One (CD 2005, 2xLP 2006) Black One & Solstitium Fulminate (2xCD 2005) AngelComa (split LP 2006) La Mort Noir dans Esch/Alzette (CD 2006) WHITEbox (4xLP Box 2006) Altar (CD 2006) Oracle (12" 2007) Dømkirke (live 2xLP 2008) Che (with Pan Sonic) (10" 2009) (初心) Grimmrobes Live 101008 (Cassette 2009) Monoliths & Dimensions (CD & 2xLP 2009) Agharthi Live 09-10 (LP + 7" 2011) The Iron Soul of Nothing (with Nurse With Wound) (2xLP 2011) Terrestrials (collaboration with Ulver, February 2014) Soused (collaboration with Scott Walker, October 2014) Kannon (CD & LP 2015) Life Metal (CD & 2xLP 2019) v/a The Beast of Attila Csihar "Decay: The Symptoms of Kali Yuga" (CD 2003) v/a Let There Be Doom II "Hell-O)))-Ween" (demo) (CD 2004) v/a Darkness Hath No Boundaries "It Took The Night To believe" (CD 2006) v/a Darkness Knows No Boundaries "Etna" (as Sunn O))) & Boris) (CD 2006) v/a Jukebox Buddha "BP//Simple" (CD 2006) v/a Within The Church of Thee Overlords "Orakulum (edit)" (CD 2007) v/a VISIONARE 53 SOUND "Ultra Orthodox Caveman" (4xPictureLP & 2xCD magazine 2007) v/a Does Your Cat Know My Dog? "Isengard (Chopped & Screwed)" (LP 2009)
With Khanate
Khanate (CD & 12" 2001) Live WFMU 91.1 (CD 2002) No Joy (12" 2003) Things Viral (CD & 12" 2003) Let Loose the Lambs (DVD 2004) KHNT vs. Stockholm (CD 2004) Live Aktion Sampler 2004 (CD 2004) Capture & Release (CD, 12", picture disc 2005) Dead/Live Aktions (DVD 2005) It's Cold When Birds Fall from the Sky (CD 2005) Clean Hands Go Foul (LP & PLP 2008, CD Japan & CD+live DVD 2009)