Sunnata

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Sunnata is a four-member Warsaw-based doom/stoner metal band. Although formed in 2008, their first album was released in 2014. Their style is often described as psychedelic and "ritualistic" with long, immersive, atmospheric songs, sometimes compared to Tool's in their structure and to Alice In Chains in their sound. In interviews they admitted to beig a "sound first" band, adding lyrics after the songs are done.

Climbing The Collossus (2014)

Even while listening to Sunnata's first album, you can hear what would eventually eveolve into their signature style; long songs slowly building intensity, chanting vocals and mid-tempo chugging riffs. My main gripe is the muddy mixing on some of the tracks that makes them feel like they're playing on low-end speakers. Although it's my least favorite of theirs, it still stands as a decent doom metal album, but looks weak compared to the rest.

Favorite tracks:

  • Stalagmites

Zorya (2016)

The secong album has much cleaner but bassier mixing. It's comprised of just five LONG songs bringing its total length to 50 minutes. Each one slowly builds up in complexity and intensity. I'm kind of mad that despite listening to this band for around 2 years i only listened to this one recently.

Favorite tracks:

  • Beasts of Prey
  • Zorya

Outlands (2018)

Outlands is Sunnata's first album featuring ambient interludes and the first one I listened to around 2022 ish. By this point you can hear the trippy, creepy psychedelic atmosphere taking complete shape. It's also their first to feature a faster non-doom track (Scars).

Favorite tracks:

  • Scars
  • Outlands
  • The Ascender

Burning in Heaven, Melting on Earth (2021)

Without any ambient tracks, Burning in Heaven is the shortest album coming out to 45 minutes. This album's songs are DENSE: faster and more aggressive than Outlands. The only exception is God Emperor Of Dune, made in the slowly evolving trippy style of Outlands. It's the album with the clearest lyrical theme - every song is about radical faith and the negative consequences thereof.

Favorite tracks:

  • God Emperor Of Dune

Chasing Shadows (2024)

Chasing Shadows is Sunnata's most recent and longest album at 62 minutes with the longest tracklist of 11. It's also the most varied in terms of sound with ambient, heavy, intense, faster and slower tracks. It features Hunger, my favorite track of theirs.

Favorite tracks:

  • Chimera
  • Wishbone
  • Hunger
Background is a modified version of photograph by Piotr Sadowski