On Friday, New Jersey sludge crushers Sunrot released their new EP, Passages. Arriving with little fanfare other than a heads up that an EP would be coming on January 24, Passages picks up in a familiar place, having been recorded during the same sessions as Sunrot’s 2023 LP, The Unfailing Rope. Passages is a relatively short affair, clocking in at 16 minutes long, with dedicated intro and outro tracks, the latter featuring a spoken word segment from Sun Ra.
Full of Hell vocalist Dylan Walker continues to build his reputation as the busiest person in extreme metal today, lending his voice to “The First Wound,” pairing with vocalist Lex Santiago’s throat-ripping screams. “Sleep” sees the band further explore their noisy and ambient tendencies, collaborating with Cloud Rat drummer Brandon Hill on a track that uses restrained percussion and squealing electronics to build a sense of tension that is released on next track “Untethered.” Featuring a contribution from cellist Jack Carino, the song strikes an uneasy balance between melody and discordance. Passages ends on an unsettling note, with closing outro “Ra” darkening the mood.
As Sunrot explains, Passages is intended to serve as a companion piece to their last full-length and it certainly succeeds on that front while also closing out what the band describes as the most recent chapter in their existence.
“Passages is the closing chapter of a batch of songs that made up this release, our split with the amazing band Body Void and our album, The Unfailing Rope,” Santiago tells Decibel. “One last harsh shriek into the void before turning inward to write again. We hope it serves as some catharsis to all those who want to scream with us.”
It’s out now via Prosthetic Records, as well as The Unfailing Rope.
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