Sunnata – Burning in Heaven, Melting on Earth
Release Date: 26th February 2021
Label: Self Release
Bandcamp
Genre: Doom Metal, Prog Metal, Stoner Metal, Shamanic Doom.
FFO: Alice in Chains, Tool, Yob, OM, Elder.
Review By: Adam Martin
Before I began listening to Sunnata’s fourth album, Burning in Heaven, Melting on Earth, I decided to have a quick look at their press shots and the only thought that hit me was: “these guys definitely want to induct me into their cult”. Now that I have listened to it, I can say my initial feelings were correct. Each song in this album forms a mysterious and other-worldly atmosphere, painting a dark landscape of supernatural sights and sounds.
It all begins, as any album should, with the anchor of the music, the bass. Droning through the cosmos, it’s slowly met with guitar sweeping in and out and a soft build up on the drums. Then come the smooth lethargic vocal melodies, beckoning the listener to lose themselves, swaying to the building of suspense. When the climax struck me, I was taken aback, reminded of old school Mastadon and that sludgy groove that hooks you in. Crows is a great introduction to the album, as well as the band, it builds nicely into an eerie experience that’s exemplified by the ethereal harmonies and melodies.
God Emperor of Dune starts in a very similar way, but with a slightly different atmosphere. This time the band introduces a tribal percussion pattern, along with background vocals that create a chant-like expression. In the right space one could easily picture themself stumbling upon a meeting of cloaked figures playing this music in a desert haze, summoning a god with their unfamiliar rhythms and melodies. The title is well deserved. After a simmered down ending, the next track A Million Lives picks up the pace with a more stoner rock riff and a driving up-tempo beat that feels like a song you would blast out of your car as you traverse desert roads. Its chorus is catchy, its breakdown is insane with thunderous rhythm and wailing vocalisations, and it’s finalised by a coarse gravelly scream which is more than enough to get your blood pumping. This one is certainly the track to play to your friends if they’re not too sure about this style.
The second half of the album continues the general motif of its predecessors, but still holds many surprises. Black Serpent starts relaxed and hazy but quickly becomes manic and lifts into a wonderfully gritty chorus. Again, their title choice is spot on as the melodies and harmonies create a dream-like and slippery snake-ish feel, as if each note is winding back and forth. But it never loses that cult feeling either, with a chanting chorus that would get the whole community shouting “Black Serpent!” each time it came around. Volva gives the listener an interesting start with beautiful harmonies that are punctuated by throat singing. Along with the strange scales the guitars play, it all feels foreign creating that strange unknowing feeling. When everything comes around to meet each other it creates such a melancholy groove encouraging you to try your best to drone along to the vocal melodies, being one with the cult you’ve just joined.
The final song Way Out feels like a culmination of the entire album, closure, with the final moments focused on the harmonies swirling around as it fades, it becomes quite beautiful.
Sunnata truly know how to build suspense in their songs, each note and subtle change had me absorbed me into their narrative, so much so that I hadn’t even noticed how long it has taken to get to some sort of climax in each track. The album was recorded live, all instruments at the same time, and you can really feel the energy and the union of the band.
Personally, this feels like something I’ve been searching for, for a long time. There’s been a gap in my life for something mystically dark and strangely uplifting, with a communal tribalistic atmosphere, and I would encourage people to listen to this one evening in the moonlight and just get lost in its beauty.
(5 / 5)
