“Red Shift” by Outer Host is a remarkable 12-track rock concept album that ventures into the realm of speculative fiction. Each track on this album acts as a sonic vignette of humanity who have left their home planet behind.
The album opens with the “[Prelude],” setting a haunting and glimmery mood that draws the listener into the dystopian universe Outer Host has created. The second track, “AD 2044,” protests to keep a society from vanishing. It makes a powerful entrance with urgency and unrest echoing immersion, pounding drums, riffing guitars, and glitchy effects. The next track, “World to World,” pours hazy but expressive vocals over anthemic, epic, and driving instrumentals.
The music remains anthemic, epic, instrumentally vibrant, and contextually thoughtful as the album progresses with “World to World,” “Speaking Stones,” and “Spectrum.”
“Nebula,” the sixth track, recaps the journey in a dreamy concoction of atmospheric and ambient energy. Listeners can find humanity facing dangers in space through the tracks “Horizon,” “Radio Signal,” and “Collision Course.”
After the penultimate track, “[Coda],” which acts as another interlude in the narrative, the album concludes with an anthemic, driving, and grungey composition, “SAFE/SOUND.” The finale leaves us hanging with the possibilities of the future of the self-exiled species.
If “Red Shift” sounds like it’s right up your alley, stay tuned to Outer Host’s music. Don’t miss the opportunity to connect with this original artistic endeavor, because they will be gigging and doing lives next year.
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Review By: Naomi Joan