God is Dead. Again. At least according to Sun Voyager whose second track on their latest, self-titled record is called “God is Dead II“. The very refreshing thing about that is, that this is not yet another Black Metal band declaring the same thing over and over again, but a psyched-up, warm Fuzz-Rock band from New York City!
Therefore one should take a lot of the things the guys are purveying with their songs on this second full-length record with a pinch of sarcasm and humor. Not Zappa-esque dadaism but a little twinkle in the eye as if to say “Ay, com’ on guys, yo all should know that God doesn’t exist, so he cannot be dead, right?” (And of course that sentence would then incite the ultra-right again, which is why I love that kind of attitude!) So when their new self-titled record opens with ”God is Dead II” it is mostly a connection to their first full-length whose last track was, right you got it, ”God is Dead”. This continuation in title is in some ways also the only connection, because the first track was a little darker sound- and song-wise, a bit more Kyuss; whereas this ”God is Dead II” is a bit more warmer and brighter, a bit more Fu Manchu, if you want. Mind you, we are not talking about the very speedy side of Stoner Rock, the roots are still clearly Black Sabbath and Hawkwind, but somehow there are also sparks of the things that make SLIFT so great.
Sun Voyager also has a cover which is a bit more neon-light than star-strewn night-sky – thus one might say what you see is what you get. The rhythm section is tight and delivers a fluffy carpet on which the guitar can glisten and shine, so that one very often already feels embraced before the vocals set in and with their little echo and the somewhat double vocals, which are not used all the time, but there seem to be a few moments, when the guys do that. It has a certain near psychedelic effect which is not unusual for the band in general, because – just like SLIFT – they also throw in some psychedelic parts when the synths and the whole soundscape takes a move towards the swirling and the took of the pedal a bit - ”Rip the Sky” and its middle passages and outro might be the best example of it on this record.
The record also has a strong West-Coast-vibe at times, somewhere between Earthless and Petyr, even though not necessarily imagines the guys being your prototypical skaters. Moreover, they might be bikers, just look at such a classical stoner title as ”To Hell We Ride” - can’t you see them riding on their motorcycles the last highway in a spiraling staircase going downward to Lucifer’s lair? Of course all of that comes, again, with a little ironic grin.
On the other side they are surely pretty serious about their music in a sense that they do not take their sound, their songs and their style lightly but work hard on improving in all of these areas. They surely did so with this record which marks a brilliant leap forward from their debut. That they do not look back crying is also clear because of the bridge between the records which proclaims the death of the one who never existed (corporeally). Or did he? Don’t ask Sun Voyager, just listen to their rich, warm, fuzzy ride into the neon sunset!
