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Since man awoke, how he has longed
To savour the true taste of life,
Driven by a common bond:
Clambering for the reason why.
We yearn for that place to belong;
A child with hands towards the sky,
Calling into the great beyond -
Yet no solace, no reply.
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Were I not resigned to fate,
I would ascend from what we are
Far away from mundane human aches,
And make my home amongst the stars.
Such is that to which we aspire;
Some absolute, or holy thing
To satiate the great desire:
A whole to fill the hole within.
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So in feverish visions I arrive
Before the gaping jaws of Death.
My deepest dreads before my eyes,
That bind me to this weakling flesh.
I free the ache to which I cling:
In attainment I understand
And shed all self, all names, all worldly things;
Thus mourn the end of all I Am.
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Grasping that single thread of light,
I tumble endless, without way
Until finally rousing by your side
As we pass through the gateless gate.
We'll bask like children in the sun
And though one day we will depart,
When all of this is said and done
Our dust will live amongst the stars.
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9/10 - Acta Infernalis
actainfernalis.com/2020/12/06/review-370-sunyata-the-great-beyond-english/
9/10 - World of Metal
translate.google.com/translate?sl=pt&tl=en&u=https://worldofmetalmag.com/album-do-mes-dezembro-2020/
8/10 - Echoes Zine
echoes-zine.cz/recenze/sunyata-the-great-beyond
8/10 - The Mighty Decibel
themightydecibel.com/single-post/classical-doom-sunyata-the-great-beyond
"Sunyata uses their music to contextualise that overwhelming feeling of coming to terms with our own humanity and subsequently, our mortality."
-Bleak Metal
bleakmetal.com/2021/01/24/the-round-up-tapes-submission-edition-volume-v/
"Sunyata gives four snapshots of life, in the dark and exploratory The Great Beyond (...) a wonderful sonic representation of the contrasts of how light and dark meld for the grey hues of humanity".
-The Other Side Reviews
theothersidereviews.com/sunyata-the-great-beyond-2020/
"The Great Beyond sounds like precious little else out there in the crowded metal world, and really is an experience not to be missed. Ripe with emotion and nuanced delivery, the artist behind Sunyata is to be commended on his work."
-Wonderbox Metal
wonderboxmetal.com/2020/11/10/sunyata-the-great-beyond-review/
"From beginning to end, “The Great Beyond” has so much more than I could’ve ever hoped for and it is very possible to become a cornerstone of an already niche corner of doom that many people never knew that they needed."
-Headbanger Reviews
headbangerreviews.wordpress.com/2020/11/04/sunyata-the-great-beyond/
"It's not often that albums take us on genuine journeys, but The Great Beyond really does. We are invited to take a journey not only to space itself, but into ourselves and to examine our purpose and the meaning of being alive. I highly implore everyone to listen to this album."
-Cave Dweller Music
cavedwellermusic.net/reviews/post/153507/sunyata-the-great-beyond
"The slow melancholy seeping through is unbearable at times (...) ‘The Great Beyond’ [is] far more interesting than most records you’ll hear this year; a record to challenge preconceptions is a welcome sight indeed."
-The Killchain
thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2020/10/08/review-sunyata-the-great-beyond/
__________________
‘The Great Beyond’ is an arrangement of 4 hymns, each representing a meditation on a theme:
The title track of the same name ruminates on the idea of being “too late to explore the Earth and too early to explore the cosmos”, tracing the ancestral origins of humanity up until the present day. Mankind is a child still in his infancy, grasping at the sky, as he strives to find belonging in a universe equally beautiful, tragic and terrifying.
The Great Below is an homage to man on Earth. It is a tribute to his best and worst; the violent squabbling and everyday suffering, as well as the greatest thinkers and works of art. The piece uses excerpts of composition from the 4th movement of Mahler’s 9th symphony, broadcasting his message of hope and despair into the unknown.
Meditation On Death reflects upon mortality, the great equaliser of all. The song shifts its focus away from the vast ‘out there’ and towards the experiential. It seeks to explore the lingering shadow cast over each of our waking actions – losing oneself and everything that is dear. In dying to self, we learn what it means to be alive.
Meditation On Life begins after being spat from the vortex, to find oneself neither departing nor arriving. To hear the cries and laughter all at once; to know that the joy and pain were always one; all along learning how to be exactly where we always were.
The album then loops into itself, beginning the cycle anew.