The Flashcards: Sunnata - Outlands (2018)

70/100

Higher, higher, higher ...

One of the things I say most often is that I no longer care about lyrics, meaning that crucial part of a song only gets caught and comes alive during specific moments. A prime example is "Lucid Dream" from Sunnata's third album. The lyrics above managed to creep in while I was nursing a headache, smoking a cigarette, and trying to figure out what to type regarding the prominent Indian cultural vibes—heavy with Hindu spirituality—without any heavy distortion in their whole discography. It feels like I'm being told to float away, higher, higher, until I'm completely flew away

. Then, "Scars" answers my cynicism with a decent dose of guitar distortion from the 04:57 mark until the end. Well, the other tracks revert to their usual formula, nothing truly heavy; even "The Ascender" only delivers a moderate amount, evenly spread throughout the song.

The instrumental bits, "Intro" and "Falling (Interlude)", are forgivable since they are relatively short, but "Ayahuasca"—the closer and bonus track—leaves the most boring impression instead of the longest track, "Hollow Kingdom". Maybe it’s because it’s quite light, in a psychedelic/stoner rock kind of way, and listening to it at night makes it feel that way. Perfect if I wrap it up by going to sleep, right?

What’s the conclusion? Since it’s not entirely my taste and my observation of their other albums isn't that deep, Outlands seems to rank below Chasing Shadows and Burning in Heaven, Melting on Earth. Third place for now. There's still Zorya, which could easily shake up the ranking.

Tracklist:

1. Intro

2. Lucid Dream

3. Scars

4. Outlands

5. The Ascender

6. Gordian Knot

7. Falling (Interlude)

8. Hollow Kingdom

9. Ayahuasca [bonus track]

Comments

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