Boston progressive melodic heavy rockers Sundrifter go big on their third full-length, An Earlier Time, set for release Feb. 16 on Small Stone Records. From the triumphal chugs and declarative rhythm of opener “Limitless” (premiering below), the album will make you believe music and just about anything else you want can fly, the band’s songs honing character through atmospheric riffing, and the theatrical, unafraid-to-reach vocals of Craig Peura.

The follow-up to 2018’s Visitations (review here) shares its predecessor’s penchant for minimalism in its closer, as An Earlier Time departs the willful grandiosities of “Limitless” or “Prehistoric Liftoff” — one is reminded of Torche‘s “Tarpit Carnivore” — or the escape-velocity charge of “Space Exploration,” the “Way out here is where I belong” lyrical perspective of which is consistent with the breaking-out of “Not Coming Back” from their 2016 debut of the same name or “I Want to Leave” from Visitations, for the relatively subdued open space of “Last Transmission” at the finish. But to get there, Peura, bassist Paul Gaughran and drummer Patrick Queenan careen and lumber through material that takes the tonal largesse of bong metal and puts it to an emotive purpose all the more affirming for the heft behind it.

Sundrifter‘s sound has blossomed, which is not to say Big Bang’ed. But ‘big’ should be an operative word here if its place in the first sentence wasn’t enough of a clue, and as heavy as Peura‘s guitar and Gaughran‘s bass might be, the distance perceived between them and the echoing of Queenan‘s drums is essential in crafting the open feel that makes “Limitless” such a powerful preface to what follows on An Earlier Time, whether it’s the reverb-cavern roll of “Nuclear Sacrifice” or the emotional charge given to side B across “Begin Again,” “Want You Home” and the penultimate “Final Chance,” the latter of which ends with drawn-out crashes to give a smoother transition to “Last Transmission.” Informed in part by the sweeping pop of Muse, and more spread out in sound than Forming the Void but with a modern-prog-heavy patience to their execution, Sundrifter manifest style in service to songwriting, and their material carries vitality in performance as well as its effects-born sprawl.

What’s perhaps most admirable about Sundrifter circa An Earlier Time, aka now, is that as much as “Limitless” or “Final Chance” or “Want You Home” seem to reach out, the band are never out of control. To be sure, Peura is a soulful vocalist and part of that is the push of his delivery, but the band never leaves their comfort zone without making sure their audience is along for the ride, and the six years since their last album has obviously given them time to focus on their craft. Not overthought, these songs find a hard balance between their emotive crux and expansive sound, and Sundrifter come through as vibrant, sincere and uplifting without the saccharine toxicity of 2020s internet platitudes; all heart (plus songwriting, plus aesthetic, etc.) at a moment where that could hardly be more necessary.

 

Sundrifter, “Limitless” video premiere

Craig Peura on “Limitless”:

‘Limitless’ is about knowing in your heart where you belong and not being afraid to jump from the highest point to find it.

Paul Gaughran on “Limitless”:

I recall this tune being the first to gain serious form during the writing for “An Earlier Time”. The style and feel of the initial riff that Craig presented us was a combination of all my favorite aspects of the previous record, but from an instrumental perspective also gave more room to work with and be creative within. The song starts from a very grounded, almost tribal sounding straight-forward arrangement and by the end is so densely orchestrated and spacial. It closes sounding elevated, even heavenly. Sort of an attempt to convey an earth-to-sky experience I suppose. I think it sets the tone for the record well.

Patrick Queenan on “Limitless”:

“Returning to Futura Studios to track drums with our engineer Dan is always a no brainer. The former masonic temple converted recording studio provides not only the best expansive space to track epic sounding drums in but on a metaphysical level provides a certain energy or vibe to the recording process. Drums being the first tracks to be recorded followed by a global shut down in 2020 this video along with the record “An Earlier Time” serve as a real time capsule. Over the past four years a lot has changed for us individually and as a group but now here in 2024 we are feeling quite LIMITLESS.”

An Earlier Time will be released on CD, limited edition LP, and digitally. Find preorders at the official Small Stone Recordings Bandcamp page HERE: https://smallstone.bandcamp.com/album/an-earlier-time

An Earlier Time Track Listing:
1. Limitless
2. Space Exploration
3. Nuclear Sacrifice
4. Prehistoric Liftoff
5. Begin Again
6. Want You Home
7. Final Chance
8. Last Transmission

SUNDRIFTER Live:
2/01/2023 Widowmaker Brewery – Braintree, MA w/ Swamphead, Bone Church, Earthlore</span

Sundrifter are:
Craig Peura – vocals, guitar
Paul Gaughran – bass
Patrick Queenan – drums

Sundrifter website

Sundrifter on Facebook

Sundrifter on Instagram

Small Stone Records website

Small Stone Records on Facebook

Small Stone Records on Instagram

Small Stone Records on Bandcamp

Big sound here from Sundrifter, whose An Earlier Time is deceptively forward-thinking considering the nostalgic evocations of the title. The Boston trio, who you”ll recall were sharing drummer Patrick Queenan with Gozu for a bit there, will issue An Earlier Time through Small Stone Records on Feb. 16, which feels like it’s coming up quick at this point but that’s life in January. It was the band’s 2018 outing, Visitations (review here), that caught the ears of the long-running Detroit imprint, leading to a months-after-the-DIY-release reissue — I seem to recall something similar happened with Lo-Pan in the long, long ago; it’s not unheard of — and An Earlier Time broadens the sound of that record exponentially, harnessing grander spaces, dynamic changes and an abidingly cosmic feel to even its most driving moments, and yes, I’m looking right at you, “Space Exploration.”

That song is one of eight on the record, and like many of them, it could’ve been the lead single just as easily as “Begin Again,” but the initial push, roll and soul there can’t be denied. Available to stream on the player at the bottom of the post, An Earlier Time‘s first public snippet is telling in the overarching largesse that unites the material across the record, but has an impact in its middle stretch that is its own, fleshed out by Craig Puera‘s melodic vocals holding out notes into an echoing expanse.

I firmly believe it’s not a thing you’ll regret hearing. So, by all means, go for it:

SUNDRIFTER: Boston-Based Desert Rock Trio To Release An Earlier Time Full-Length February 16th Via Small Stone Recordings; New Track Streaming + Preorders Available

Boston-based desert rock trio SUNDRIFTER will release their long-awaited new full-length, An Earlier Time, on February 16th via Small Stone Recordings, today unveiling the album’s cover art, track listing, and first single.

SUNDRIFTER’s sound is bigger and broader on An Earlier Time. From the appropriate beginning of “Limitless” onward, the New England three-piece answers the potential of their 2019 sophomore album, Visitations, and their 2016 debut, Not Coming Back, with a collection that is likewise huge and intimate, bringing together expansive atmospheres a la Hum’s heavy post-rock vision with Soundgarden’s unmitigated heavy revelry and melodic command and the contemplative expressivism of Radiohead. The offering features eight songs, each one of them a world to get lost in.

With the returning trio of guitarist/vocalist Craig Peura, bassist Paul Gaughran, and drummer Patrick Queenan, SUNDRIFTER calls to mind the expansive atmospheric heavy rock of outfits like Forming The Void or Small Stone veterans Abrahma, but Peura’s vocals cull influence from ’90s alt rock in a way that emphasizes the individual now more than ever. The band’s third album realizations come complemented by the return of producer/mixer Dan Schwartz, mastering by Chris Goosman, and cover art by Branca Studio, furthering the “complete package” sensibility fostered in no small part by the weighted complexity and breadth of the tracks themselves. It’s not so much heavy rock as is, but as it could be.

In advance of the official release of An Earlier Time, today the band reveals the record’s first single, “Begin Again.” With Peura elaborating, “‘Begin Again’ is a constant battle to overcome negative self-talk and the pain that it can bring telling you of your failures, and the excitement that comes when you decide to acknowledge them and begin again.”

“I’d say the name says everything,” Gaughran continues. “It’s a statement of intention from the band. It’s taken far longer than we’d have liked to make this record, but time has its upsides. I’d like to think we’ve used it to hone in on a sound that better reflects our collective influences as a band, both musical and non-musical. ‘Begin Again’ tonally evokes all those influences, whether it be space and the desert or any of the spiritual concepts expressed lyrically, all while retaining the signature characteristics of our brand of heavy psychedelic rock.”

Queenan adds, “As the ancients had to rebuild humanity and societies after cataclysmic events so are we emerging from the ash and beginning yet again.”

An Earlier Time will be released on CD, limited edition LP, and digitally. Find preorders at the official Small Stone Recordings Bandcamp page HERE: https://smallstone.bandcamp.com/album/an-earlier-time

An Earlier Time Track Listing:
1. Limitless
2. Space Exploration
3. Nuclear Sacrifice
4. Prehistoric Liftoff
5. Begin Again
6. Want You Home
7. Final Chance
8. Last Transmission

SUNDRIFTER Live:
2/01/2023 Widowmaker Brewery – Braintree, MA w/ Swamphead, Bone Church, Earthlore

SUNDRIFTER:
Craig Peura – vocals, guitar
Paul Gaughran – bass
Patrick Queenan – drums

https://sundrifterband.com
https://www.facebook.com/sundriftermusic
https://www.instagram.com/sundrifterbc

https://smallstone.com
https://www.facebook.com/smallstonerecords
https://www.instagram.com/smallstonerecords

Sundrifter, An Earlier Time (2024)