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Friday Full-Length: Sunnata, Climbing the Colossus

Posted in Bootleg Theater on February 17th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

sunnata climbing the colossus

It’s been about a decade since the Warsaw-based heavy rockers Satellite Beaver revamped their name and the concept of their band to become Sunnata, having made their full-length debut with 2009’s Trip Outside Your Mind (review here) and followed it with the 2012 EP, The Last Bow (review here). And if the kind of ritual metal, heavy psych and meditative spirit of Sunnata‘s work was the vision they were chasing all along, unquestionably that moniker swap was the right choice — it was on a few levels, actually. With the continued lineup of guitarist/vocalist Szymon “SZY” Ewertowski, guitarist Adrian “GAD” Gadomski, bassist Michał “DOB” Dobrzański and drummer Robert “ROB” Ruszczyk, the aesthetic turn was made manifest when Sunnata released Climbing the Colossus in March 2014. Here’s what the band had to say about the change at the time:

“Many things have changed since our start in 2008. After three short-length releases and numerous shows we all (finally) agreed to make a step closer to become premium pop-stars. However, the new band name doesn’t imply any lineup or makeup changes. It simply suits our approach to the music, which has become way heavier and trippy in comparison to what we played back in 2008. So here it is. SUNNATA is a soundscape, where noise crossfades clearness – where walls of fuzz, delay and reverb confront the monolith of absolute silence.”

As it turns out, they’d be confronting all kinds of monoliths as Sunnata, be it loud, quiet, in between or existential, and the “heavier and trippy” direction manifests clearheaded in Climbing the Colossus‘ 49-minute run across as series of short-growing-longer tracks the trail through which is marked by a series of aurally diverse interludes, be it the 40-second “I” which opens the record and leads into the horror-slash intensity of the guitar and the massive roll that typifies “Orcan,” repetition becoming ritual, the eight-second echo wisp “II” that swirls into the start of the subsequent “Asteroid,” a fuzzed but sharply executed thrust finding its apex after a series of start-stops in its second half, the shortest of the ‘song-songs’ at 3:39, or the almost-a-minute churn-noise and feedback of “V” that closes the record following the nine-minute “Fomalhaut,” which crescendos the aggression on display throughout Climbing the Colossus without letting go of the atmosphere that’s so much a part of the album’s overarching impression.

On a straight-through listen, as opposed to, say, hearing it on vinyl, the atmospherics become part of the songs. They are transitional intros/outros that flow from one piece to another, not in between every track, but something to move the listener along with the material so that the crushing low-end that rises to such unsullied crush in “Seven” after the end of “Asteroid” — a rolling movement that becomes elephantine as the song, which runs an appropriate 7:07, shifts into its back half, becoming likewise psychedelic and monstrous and massive; a watershed moment — gives over to the jingling and drone of “III” smoothly and with purpose, adding character to tracks that don’t necessarily want for it but that are richer for its being there. A key stretch arrives on what for the LP is the beginning of side B, with “Path” (7:48), “Stalagmites” (7:09) and “Monolith” (6:38) in a row.

There’s a pattern, you see: Interlude, one song, interlude, two songs, interlude, three songs, interlude, song, interlude (and if you want to replace the first and last “interlude” there with “intro” and “outro” I won’t stop you; I use “interlude” to show the consistency of purpose in deepening the ambience), and the intention even nine years after the fact still feels like Sunnata are pulling you deeper into this world as they go. Thus “Path” into “Stalagmites” and “Monolith,” even though each one gets subsequently shorter, is the stretch in which the listener is most immersed. “Path” has a hook and is as aggro in its vocals and chugging low end as it is spacious in the guitar later on — a kind of cosmic metal that in hindsight is very much Sunnata‘s own — and crashes to a stop for a few seconds of that “absolute silence” before “Stalagmites” begins to stir with a few nudges of echoing guitar before the proggy bassline starts that probably could’ve been their own interlude.

Nonetheless, once “Stalagmites” (which come up from the ground; ‘stalactites hold on tight, stalagmites might poke you in the butt’) kicks in from its buildup, it maintains its weight for the duration, and though “Monolith” has a quieter break as part of its procession, the muted stops in the second half are an early example of the band making the studio an instrument — ‘studio’ being a relative term since the drums were done at Demontazownia Studio while guitar, vocals and presumably bass were handled via home recording, ‘edited’ by Dobrzański while Jan Galbas had the difficult task of mixing and mastering to find balance amidst the purposefully conjured chaos — and pummeling in their own right, another call out to the metal of the mid-to-late ’90s. A moment to process in “IV” and then “Fomalhaut” feedbacks into immediate destruction. It is a summary as much conceptual as practical, sound-wise, has a mellow bridge and a languid lead that’s almost stoner rock as it moves to the halfway point, but makes that jangly chug transcend and become something bigger, a march that gets topped with a clean, low-register verse like cosmic spiritual swagger, growing more feverish as it goes before a resolute twist finishes, some residual feedback smoothing the way into the postscript grey psychedelia of “V,” which fades quickly on its way out.

It’s not just that Sunnata pulled off an aesthetic turn with Climbing the Colossus. They did, to be sure. But this record also set in motion a stylistic growth that continues to this day, with the same lineup behind it. That they’ve together undertaken the journey from Climbing the Colossus to 2016’s Zorya (review here), 2018’s Outlands (review here) and 2021’s Burning in Heaven, Melting on Earth (review here) isn’t to be understated, as they’ve managed to consistently move forward with a sense of progression while reveling in the enduring atmospheric elements of their approach. In the varied realms of Polish heavy, they’re part of a generation of players emergent over the last decade who stand astride the 2020s as still-evolving veterans, and even as one looks back at the beginning steps of that process here, robes and harem pants and all, it’s almost impossible not to look forward to what they might do next.

As always, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading.

5:19AM at present. I woke up this morning at about 2:30, spent the next hour-plus tossing and turning, drifting to sleep and waking up again about every 20 minutes, until at 3:40 I gave up and decided I was just awake and that was it. That’s been a fairly steady pattern the last couple weeks. Yesterday, I think it was, I made it until the alarm went off at 4, and I felt like I had slept late.

So anyway, coffee.

Okay. Last weekend was The Patient Mrs.’ birthday. Happy birthday. All was good. We had my family over for dinner Saturday, and Sunday went to brunch in Brooklyn with friends of hers (who have three kids) who live there. After that, because The Pecan said it was his only goal for this year to see a dragon dance (he is a special kind of kid), we went to the Chinese New Year parade. It was overwhelming on the whole, but I was glad there wasn’t a mass shooting, which pretty much anytime you put humans in a place together these days in America becomes a concern; I’m standing there with the kid on my shoulders (he’s getting big for that), scanning the crowd for people who look like me except particularly distraught. Glad to see there weren’t any and nobody got killed. Mark it a win.

Except for the fact that The Patient Mrs. starting on Tuesday was violently ill. Not covid, she tested, but a stomach thing she and the friends’ kids seemed to share. Neither The Pecan nor I picked it up, which feels like a great, great victory, having seen her go through Tuesday and Wednesday, especially, without being able to eat or even really drink water without unfortunate consequences, but she was miserable and mostly in bed for that time, so probably not the post-birthday week she was hoping to have. I don’t understand how anyone who lives in a human body can believe it was made in the image of an almighty deity. Yeah, I hear god also projectile vomits when he eats some funky strawberries. Totally legit.

She seems like she’s on the other end of it now — or at least she managed to hold onto the white rice and scrambled egg she ate for dinner last night — but that kind of defined the week. The Pecan, meanwhile, had his first and second Tae Kwon Do classes with other kids. He likes it, seems to like it a lot, but is sort of transient by nature so we’ll see if he wants to stick with it after a couple more lessons. He likes things that are new, tires eventually and moves onto the next thing.

When I was a kid, the messaging that went along with that was that you needed to dedicate yourself to something, to “stick with it.” Having already seen him ice skate, play soccer, do tee-ball, track and field — he’s five, remember — I don’t necessarily believe he needs to “stick with” something that’s going to make him unhappy and think that his time might be better spent exploring new things until he finds what fits. I stuck with a bunch of shit in my time, including Tae Kwon Do, well past the point where I was enjoying any of it, and all I feel like I got for that was an obsessive personality and a constant feeling of failure. So yeah, when and if he’s ready to move on, that’s fine.

I need to remind myself of this because at this point it’s my nature to dig into a thing entirely regardless of enduring pleasure or displeasure. You might say it’s how and why The Obelisk exists and persists. Part of it, anyway. I consider myself fortunate that when I put on a record like the new Sandrider or REZN, or an older one like the Sunnata above, that I can still enjoy hearing it. Music has been the most consistent source of joy in my life. Worth waking up for.

This weekend, more family time. I was thinking of inviting my mother and sister and that crew for dinner tomorrow, but we might actually just mellow it out — can it be both? not entirely sure — and take a break for a day since on Sunday into the holiday Monday, The Patient Mrs.’ sister, her own two kids and two dogs are coming to stay, having not been able to make the trip down from Connecticut for her actual birthday. So you see how those afternoon hours on Saturday, which surely will drag without some ‘event’ scheduled, might be a bit of restorative boredom worth undertaking.

Whatever you’re up to, I hope it’s great and that you enjoy. Today at 5PM is a new ‘The Obelisk Show’ on Gimme Metal. Please listen. The music’s good and the support is appreciated. Plus it’s free on their app or site: http://gimmemetal.com

5:54 now and The Pecan just opened his door, which means it’s the start of the morning shift. It’ll be Sesame Street in no time. I hope you have a great and safe weekend. Have fun, watch your head, hydrate all that stuff. Next week is jammed front to back — premieres for Slumbering Sun, Dead Shrine, an Enslaved review, etc. — so that’ll all start to unfurl on Monday. Hope to see you then, and thanks for reading, as always.

FRM.

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Sunnata to Release Climbing the Colossus in March

Posted in Whathaveyou on January 23rd, 2014 by JJ Koczan

Having started their career under the dubious-if-memorable moniker Satellite Beaver — their 2012 EP, The Last Bow (review here), followed 2009’s full-length debut, Trip Outside Your Mind (review here) — the Warsaw four-piece recently announced a change of banner in order to more closely match their sonic evolution. Thus, Sunnata emerge, with a self-released LP called Climbing the Colossus ready for release in March 2014. Same band, much less silly name, and with a sound that continues to grow.

As evidence of that, Sunnata offer up the darkly-fuzzed “Asteroid” as the first audio to be heard from Climbing the Colossus. Find it courtesy of Sunnata’s Bandcamp page following the PR wire info below:

SUNNATA premiere brandnew track + reveal album release date — New record coming out March 2014!

Founded in 2008 as formerly Satellite Beaver, Warsaw doomsters Sunnata have just revealed a brandnew track from their upcoming full length album “Climbing The Colossus”, which will be finally coming out on March 24th 2014!

As Satellite Beaver, the band released three EPs and played some of the biggest central and eastern-european stoner festivals, including Desertfest Berlin, Days Of The Ceremony (PL) or Robustfest (UA), and shared the stages with acts such as Sungrazer, Karma To Burn or Suma.

After changing their bandname in the beginning of 2014 and moving into a heavier direction, Sunnata have just premiered a first single called “Asteroid”,  which you can check out for free on their Bandcamp now and get an exclusive first taste of their upcoming, hotly anticipated album:

“Many things have changed since our start in 2008. After three short-length releases and numerous shows we all (finally) agreed to make a step closer to become premium pop-stars. However, the new band name doesn’t imply any line-up or make-up changes. It simply suits our approach to the music, which has become way heavier and trippy in comparison to what we played back in 2008. So here it is. SUNNATA is a soundscape, where noise crossfades clearness –where walls of fuzz, delay and reverb confront the monolith of absolute silence.”  explains the band. “We´re excited to finally unveil a first taste of our new sound!”

“Climbing The Colossus” – The new album by Sunnata will be coming out March 24th 2014 For fans of finest doom, sludge, stoner rock, fuzz trips & heavy riffs!

Tracklist:
1. Orcan
2. Asteroid
3. Seven
4. Path
5. Stalagmites
6. Monolith
7. Fomalhaut

SUNNATA is:
SZY – vocals, guitar
GAD – guitar
DOB – bass guitar
ROB – drums

Official Links:
www.facebook.com/sunnataofficial
www.sunnataofficial.bandcamp.com
www.twitter.com/followsunnata
www.vk.com/sunnataofficial

Sunnata, “Asteroid” from Climbing the Colossus (2014)

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Satellite Beaver Post Live Footage from Robustfest in Kiev

Posted in Bootleg Theater on October 24th, 2013 by JJ Koczan

Earlier this month, Polish heavy rock foursome Satellite Beaver took the stage for Robustfest in Kiev, Ukraine, where they played with The Machine, Bomg (that’s not a typo), The Grand Astoria, Belzebong, and others. Here’s what they had to say about it afterward:

Rob here. It seems we just discovered hangover equivalent of sludge and now we have to deal with it. It’s damn painful and feels like Kirk Windstein himself stomping our heads.

Robustfest festival was great, same with the afterparty with our friends of Stoned Jesus, The Brimstone Days and others. Huge thanks to festival’s crew and great people who shown up here and there. Ukraine is intense.

Oh what an intense trip it was! We’re back, after 1500+ kilometers travelled, dozens of people met and tons of fun we had. Pure craziness.

Kiev, Ternopil – you do rock!

Certainly it must have been a hangover for the ages to prompt an invocation of Kirk Windstein. One hopes Satellite Beaver have recovered by now, as they’ve reportedly begun work recording their next album as a follow-up to last year’s The Bow EP (review here). Word on the street is instruments are done, vocals soon to follow, so there’s another one to keep an eye out for early in 2014.

There are a couple live clips of Satellite Beaver‘s striped pants heavy metal boogie at Robustfest, and thus far they’re all new material. Seems they’re just itching to get the new songs out, which is a good sign.

Enjoy:

Satellite Beaver, Live at Robustfest Vol. III

Satellite Beaver on Thee Facebooks

Satellite Beaver on Bandcamp

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Satellite Beaver Debut New Song Live

Posted in Bootleg Theater on July 22nd, 2013 by JJ Koczan

There’s a lot to like about this clip of new Satellite Beaver. First and foremost is the Polish foursome, because they rock. Second is the video itself, because it makes it look like the room where this Days of the Ceremony 2 fest pre-show took place has a really low ceiling. Third, the song, which will appear on Satellite Beaver‘s upcoming full-length debut and gives some indication of where the band has gone since their 2012 EP, The Last Bow (review here). Put that all together and you get a hearty “right on” from me. So yeah, right on.

Satellite Beaver, who also opened theDesertfestin Berlin this year, sent over the following update:

Last Thursday we played at warm-up party of second edition of Days Of The Ceremony festival (Pentagram, Eyehategod, Orange Goblin, Acid King, etc).

We played there along with Suma and Major Kong and this is how it went. This is our new song from upcoming debut album, which is about to be recorded in September and released on Dec. 2013/Jan. 2014.

More on the album as it surfaces, but in the meantime, here’s a sampler of where the four-piece is headed:

Satellite Beaver, Live at Days of the Ceremony 2 pre-show

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Satellite Beaver to Open Desertfest Berlin 2013

Posted in Whathaveyou on April 1st, 2013 by JJ Koczan

Polish heavy rockers Satellite Beaver are no strangers around these parts, going back to 2010 and hearing some tracks from their MySpace page (a simpler time!), and on through an exploration of their 2009 Trip Outside Your Mind demo (review here) and subsequent 2012 EP, The Last Bow (review here). Now the Warsaw foursome have been tapped to kickoff this year’s Desertfest in Berlin on April 25.

They’re the second to last addition — one more to come later this week — to the fest, the website for which posted this announcement of the rock to come once Satellite Beaver take the stage:

Desertfest Berlin – SATELLITE BEAVER (POL)

We are thrilled to announce that Polish Stoner/Sludge Metal quartet SATELLITE BEAVER will open the festival on Thursday 25 !!

Formed in Warsaw, Poland, in 2008, SATELLITE BEAVER are a hard rocking Sludge/Stoner Metal Band composed of Szymon (Guitars/Vocals), Tomek (Guitar), Michal (Bass) and Robert (Drums).

Inspired by traditional grunge and stoner rock genres, SATELLITE BEAVER came a long way through different influences what in practice means searching for thickest guitar strings and biggest crash cymbals ever created. The fuzz and distortion are at maximum levels, producing some truly earth shattering sounds, an eclectic hybrid of sludge, psychedelic and grunge. It hits hard, dripping with atmosphere, as otherworldly sounds clamber over the lumbering riffs to brilliant head-banging effect.

Their latest EP, “The Last Bow” contains tracks recorded through 2010 and 2011, summing up the bands creative journey and giving you an inclination of where they might be headed. Currently, SATELLITE BEAVER are preparing brand new material for their debut album release, which is about to be recorded and released in the second half of 2013 and promoted through an European tour in September. It will contain massive, down-tuned trips to the land of fuzz, which you will be able to hear live at DESERTFEST BERLIN !

Satellite Beaver on Thee Facebooks

Desertfest Berlin website

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Satellite Beaver, The Last Bow: Trip Outside the Stone

Posted in Reviews on June 4th, 2012 by JJ Koczan

Whatever else Satellite Beaver’s second self-released EP accomplishes stylistically – and it accomplishes plenty – it shows that the Warsaw rockers are not quite as simple as they first appeared. Their debut was 2009’s Trip Outside Your Mind, a fitting entry into Poland’s burgeoning stoner scene, clearly the work of an act just getting their bearings creatively, but not by any means an uneasy listen for the converted. If anything Satellite Beaver’s show of influences on that collection set them on the right track going in to the follow-up, which I assumed would take the form of a full-length refining their sound along roughly the same creative lines. The Last Bow – somewhat foreboding in its title, though the band gives no indication they’re about to call it quits – arrives three years later and in a mere 18 minutes manages to contradict almost every expectation one might put on it while still also being a rock record. Its four songs, “Pershing,” “Urania,” “Way Before” and “Roadtrip” all stay within the four-to-five-minute range, but the sound is much fuller and more established than was Trip Outside Your Mind (review here), and Satellite Beaver sound almost too serious for their name. The guitars of Szymon (also vocals) and Tomek chug with metallic compression to match their semi-fuzzed tonality, and the whole affair has a somewhat darker, less upbeat vibe. It works for the band, but as drummer Robert works in near-blasts to the second half of “Pershing” amid a riff that’s whittled down out of the distortion blocks of Kyuss and Goatsnake as filtered through European capital ‘h’ Heavy, it’s easy to be caught off guard by the jump in aesthetic if you heard the first EP. If you didn’t hear Trip Outside Your Mind, then it’s probably not even a consideration, as The Last Bow could be seen as just as much a debut as its predecessor, for both its energy and for the potential it shows for what the band might do next.

Doubtless they’ll get around to doing an LP sooner or later – if their current listed lineup info is accurate, they’ll need a new bassist first – but in the meantime, The Last Bow justifies its delay in the move away from the band’s prior groove-based simplicity. That’s not to criticize the band for needing to work faster or put out more material – different groups work at different paces and that’s part of the fun – but it’s been three years since Trip Outside Your Mind, and to come out of it with 18 minutes of music is probably less productive than Satellite Beaver would ideally like to be. Or maybe they don’t give a shit. I won’t speculate. What matters is the progression shown in these songs, whether its “Pershing”’s metallic taste or the slower, grungy feel in the slower “Urania.” Szymon’s vocals have a kind of lower-mouth sound to them, derived from the post Alice in Chains school of band-fronting, but reverbed as they are on “Urania” and set back in the mix amid Robert’s snare march, one is more reminded of Marilyn Manson than Layne Staley. Still, his layering is effective, and when Robert lands heavy on the toms, the rush of air is palpable through the speakers. For a band without a bassist, Satellite Beaver have an awful lot of low end working for them. The central riff of “Urania” is pretty standard stoner rock fare, and that’s clearly on purpose, but the band’s presentation of it is what makes the song stand out both on the EP and in the genre in general. They’re not aligning themselves to the desert, or to outer space, or to the ocean or wherever else riffs come from ecologically. They’re aligning themselves to themselves, and that process is exciting to hear.

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Satellite Beaver: Riding Rockets with the Mighty Skunk Ape

Posted in Reviews on September 1st, 2010 by JJ Koczan

Part of the growing and fertile Polish stoner rock scene, Satellite Beaver make no bones about their love for all that’s heavy on their most recent self-released demo Trip Outside Your Mind. The band formed in 2008 and are definitely still figuring out their sound, but like a lot of the nascent acts in and around Warsaw rock city, the four-piece display a genuine affection for the lineage of stoner and other riffy-type rock, and that goes a long way toward establishing their charm on the three-song release.

The title Trip Outside Your Mind might lead you to believe we’re going to be dealing with far-out space reverb psychedelia, 13-minute expansive songs that delve into Hawkwindian self-indulgence, but Satellite Beaver are more earthbound than that, rocking like Earthride or a half-speed High on Fire, the vocals of guitarist Simon the Beaver leading the arguments in favor of the comparison. On opener “Fat Man in Wellingtons,” he and his fellow Beavers (each member takes “The Beaver” as their last name) begin with about 45 seconds of noise before actually starting the song – a bold move on a release that’s only 15 and a half minutes total – but once they get going, the groove is palpable, the tones are thick and the vibe is stoned. Fellow guitarist/backing vocalist Tom the Beaver contributes to the heft of “Fat Man in Wellingtons” and the quicker “OD&D” with bassist Marian the Beaver and drummer Mad the Beaver proving more than capable of following the guitars wherever they may take the songs along whatever path they choose to get where they’re going.

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On the Radar: The Polish Scene, Vol. 2 — Satellite Beaver

Posted in On the Radar on March 8th, 2010 by JJ Koczan

If you missed vol. 1 of “On the Radar: The Polish Scene,” it’s right here.

One listen to the live version of “Mighty Sasquatch,” which Warsaw four-piece Satellite Beaver have posted on their MySpace, and Kyuss becomes an immediate reference point. This holds up throughout the other two tracks, “Nitro Steam Engine” and the cleverly titled “OD’n’D,” though the vocals on the middle of the three songs more brings to mind a Queens of the Stone Age track with Nick Oliveri singing lead. Vocalist guitarist Simon the Beaver (all band members’ names end with “the Beaver“) comes across pretty roughly here, but one imagines the case to be different on studio recordings as it so often is.

Satellite Beaver and Broken Betty, as well as several of the other acts we’ll be looking at as this series on the Polish stoner scene unfolds, are still developing their sound, still deciding what sonic elements they want to bring to the table in terms of where to take their songs and just how they want to manifest their interpretations of the inviolable riff. For now, Satellite Beaver — rounded out by guitarist/backing vocalist Tom the Beaver, bassist Doman the Beaver and drummer Mad the Beaver — offer these three live songs as a demonstration of what they’re trying to accomplish, and particularly on “OD’n’D,” they succeed where many more established acts don’t in making the conventions of the stoner genre the basis from which they form their own style, rather than the style itself.

But of course, it’s early. Any ground-floor types out there, I hope you’re paying attention to this stuff, because in about five years’ time, when some of these bands will have broken up, traded members and hopefully all come out in possession of heightened musical awareness for the trials they’ve endured, Poland is going to be an epicenter of kickass rock and roll. If they can keep up the energy and not get mired in the kind of bullshit that drags down so many other quality acts, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if Satellite Beaver grew into one of the scene’s strongest outfits.

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