Beyond This Earth - Portraits Of The Absurd

Entities that dwell in a world beyond this Earth watch us incur loss and casualties, and we've only ourselves to blame. When the threads of our fate have been pulled for the last time, will we veer away from seemingly interminable imprudence?

Right away, we are treated to riffs that yearn for the sky, or a planet not infested with perpetually selfish humans and their ilk, making the orbit that is "In Orbit" quite epic. A couple of minutes into "The Overseer" and I'm thinking that the astral superintending that made the first song memorable is a one-time deal, but then I'm treated to a little bit of that grace from above just a bit later. The bulk of the sound, though, is comprised of weightiness (that supplants the common bumpiness of stoner rock) and masculinity that, fortunately, lacks any sort of pomposity. Though the story doesn't seem to be so lighthearted at first glance, the sonic leanings never allow it to suffer from an overdose of solemnity, keeping the fun alive.
"Land of the Wise" is composed of some really cool ideas. Its beginning is a pensive gaze at stars free of antagonism, but as the sun rises, its a slightly Egyptian region we find ourselves in. The "penultimate section" is overly eerie and grim, almost as if each constituent were ovulating at once, alluding to ruin to come. This finale is a bit of a shocker and probably the only part that might be overly solemn. It really inspires dread, but its one of the highlights, for it puts so many images in my mind. "Portraits Of The Absurd's" impacts are formidable enough, but its finest moments are perhaps those that are tinged with the vastness we can only hope to reach ourselves.

7.5/10

Noah Nihility Zalve

Portraits Of The Absurd | Beyond This Earth (bandcamp.com)