Editors at AnyDecentMusic? rated this release 6.8 out of 10, aggregating 7 critic scores.[3] According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Beyond the 4th Door received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 75 out of 100 from 6 critic scores.[4]
Editors at AllMusic rated this album 3.5 out of 5 stars, with critic Thom Jurek writing that much of this release "is unhurried, sonic meandering with a single pointed focus: to alter the listener's consciousness", drawing on Krautrock, Popol Vuh, Ash Ra Tempel, Cluster, and Neu!, featuring the band "at their most focused".[1] Robert Ferguson of Drowned in Sound scored this release an 8 out of 10, stating that "this record couldn't actually be any more psychedelic if it had a picture of a stoned wizard on the front cover", made of "a kind of darkly ambient series of guitar riffs, the weight of which is quite incredible for a selection of songs which never really seek to propel themselves towards a peak, or use quiet/loud-style tension building devices".[5]Beyond the 4th Door garnered 4 out of 5 stars in Mojo, where it was called "a further refinement of their liquid improv vibe [that] finds the quintet sitting on a mountain looking at the sun, high on Popol Vuh and who knows what else".[6] Editors at Pitchfork Media scored this release 7.3 out of 10 and critic Grayson Haver Currin praised the band for finding new cohesion with an expanded line-up after their several independent releases, resulting in a release that "moves in well-designed waves, never exhausting all its intrigue and energy at any given time".[7] Peter Watts of Uncut gave this album 4 out of 5 stars, characterizing it as "fine brooding spacerock", noting the courage of building up the songs so deliberately "with baby steps, notes tested for strength then played long, low and loud".[2]
Track listing
"Ancient Echoes" – 8:07
"Cosmic Manhunt" – 4:59
"Galactic Derelict" – 7:35
"Reflections in a Mirage" – 10:18
"Time Winds Through a Glass, Clearly" – 12:22
Bonus track on some editions
"Wave Without a Shore" – 10:29
Personnel
Eternal Tapestry
Jed Bindeman – drums
Nick Bindeman – guitar, vocals
Ryan Carlile – saxophone, synthesizer
Yoni Kifle – bass guitar on "Time Winds Through a Glass, Clearly"