By Jim Rowland
‘The Only Equation’ is the fifth album of the two-decade career of London heavy prog merchants Suns of the Tundra, serving as a follow up to 2019’s well-received ‘Murmuration’. Building on the progressive nature of that album, ‘The Only Equation’ is the band’s longest, loudest and most intense recording to date.
Recorded towards the tail end of last year, most of the writing of the material for this album took place during the Covid lockdowns, contributing to a focussed and faster writing process. The album’s 60-minute run-time encompasses seven tracks, including the three-part, 15-minute epic ‘Reach For The Inbetween’, a sprawling, dramatic piece that forms the centrepiece of the album.
Equally epic and dramatic is the ten-minute ‘The Rot’, an atmospheric piece that twists and turns through light and shade, and brings echoes of Tool to mind. Shorter tracks like ‘Snakes & Ladders’, ‘Anorak’ and title track ‘The Only Equation’ are jerky, angular and complex slices of impressive, heavy prog, whilst ‘Run Boy Run’ has more of a straight ahead groove-laden alt rock feel to it, with a flavour of earlier Smashing Pumpkins in its heavier moments.
Sitting loosely somewhere between the more recent output of neo-prog icons IQ and ÜS heavyweights Tool for me, ‘The Only Equation’ is a supremely confident, ambitious and well executed slice of progressive rock on the heavier end of the scale. If you like your prog with some power, this comes highly recommended.
- ‘The Only Equation’ is out now.
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