Hey, do you remember Astral Magic? They are the psychedelic space rock band from Finland that I told you about in my previous review of their album Balance of Oblivion. Well, they have just released another album, called Sacred Mysteries, and it’s something different this time. The band is still a solo project by Santtu Laakso, who plays everything by himself, but this time he has Anton Barbeau on guitars and Taavi Heikkilä on saxophone. The album is inspired by ancient mysteries and alien encounters, and it combines elements of psych and space rock, creating a different spin on the Astral Magic sound.
The album begins with a cosmic and ambient track called ‘Göbekli Tepe’. Named after an ancient archaeological site in Turkey that is considered to be the oldest temple in the world. The song has all the those 70’s synth swooshes and flourishes that lend it a sense of mystery. I’m loving how this track leans into the Kosmische sound. Right up my street.
From one archaeological site to another next as we cross the ocean to Bolivia and ‘Puma Punku’. This one is a bit heavier and lyrically it dives into the ancient alien theories as to how the amazing structures at Puma Punku were created. The dark bass and fuzzed up guitar make you feel you’re trudging through the jungle to find the ancient site.
‘Mystics From Outer Space’ continues that ancient alien’s theme with a song about the possibility of extraterrestrial beings visiting Earth in the past and influencing human civilization. It’s back to the sci fi sounds and riffing guitar setting this one firmly in the cosmos.
We float gently among the stars in ‘The Other World’. Are we now entering a parallel dimension through this sparkling and luminescent instrumental. Cascading synth pads and squelching notes overlap and play through each other creating a sense of wonder and confusion.
‘Blow Your Mind’ urges us to look outside our everyday thoughts and explore our consciousness. The baritone vocal harmonies on the chorus line are absolutely brilliant. They almost sound like a synth. The lead guitar line weaves about like a serpent and drives the song forward.
More theories are explored in ‘Watchers’. It’s based on the theory that some ancient gods and angels were actually alien beings who observed and manipulated human history. This one is more up tempo than anything so far with an energetic and upbeat drum beat. The track also has some cool and confident vocals that propel the whole thing along. Great track.
Next, we receive a mysterious radio signal from outer space that contains a hidden message. ‘Transmission Omicron’ is another tone poem that taps into the sound of the cosmos to provide with a gentle intermission. Sci fi bleeps and bloops slowly decay until they completely degrade to nothing. Very clever stuff.
‘Phases’ is the closest thing we have got yet to an out and out pop song. It’s really catchy from the get go and bass and guitar work in sympatico to create a rhythm for the saxophone to create its textures over. It sounds like the song is about the cycles of life and the phases of the moon, and how they affect our feelings and relationships. As well as this it touches on reincarnation. “We ride the eternal wheel. We spin around forever”.
We all know what a ‘Close Encounter’ is. The album closes on an ambient
and cosmic track that reflects on a close encounter with an alien being and experiencing a telepathic communication. This track leans into an epic soundscape of swirling synths and soaring guitars to create an atmosphere of awe and curiosity.
Sacred Mysteries is an amazing psychedelic album that explores a lot of mysteries of our planet whilst dipping into the Kosmische sound as well as space rock. As withal albums of this type for them to be successful they have to transportive. They have to take you away in your imagination to places unseen and unheard. Sacred Mysteries does this on each and every track and only gets better with repeated listens.
Sacred Mysteries is out now digitally and on limited edition CD from the Astral Magic Bandcamp page.
You can follow Astral Magic on social media here…..
Discover more from Static Sounds Club
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Static Sounds Club 