Sons Of Ra is an instrumental trio consisting of Erik Oldman (Guitar/Bass/Synth), Keith Wakefield (Bass Guitar/Tenor Saxophone/Synth) and Michael Rataj (Drums). This Chicago-based band released Standard Deviation , their debut album. It has already been twenty years since they emerged onto Chicago's scene with their fusion of heavy prog, jazz, math rock, and elements of avant-garde. Before they released their full-length debut Standard Deviation they independently released four EPs since 2016. On Standard Deviation the musicians are diving deeper into the roots of avant-garde jazz, fusion, math and progressive rock while maintaining a powerful metallic crunch. To do this they used their own interpretations of compositions from jazz legends Carla Bley, John Coltrane and Don Ellis. However original compositions are also on the menu to show that they can write music themselves. Both the covers and own material are reflecting the group's diverse influences. Listening to the nine tracks is not always easy, because it is not the typical music I hear on my headphones normally. Their mix of heavy prog, jazz, math rock and avant-garde is not relaxing music. The whole album sounds like one whole musical experiment based on improvised music. To give you an impression what to expect on this album I will tell you in a few words what to expect on each track. Album opener Disintegration (Alabama Revisited) starts very promising with excellent sax and guitar parts, before their total sound becomes rather chaotic. Follow up Outside Looking In is more melodic with great guitar parts. However, from time to time still sounding a bit chaotic. Next up Don't Know Yet is again more melodic but still very chaotic if I may say so. The first interesting tune for me is Intrepidation. It includes nice guitar and flute parts which makes it rather tuneful for lovers of progressive rock. Vashkar is next and has some fine playing on the sax with nice rhythm parts as well. The excellent guitar solo shows they can do more progressive rock related stuff too. Follow up Upstart has a nice prog intro. However, the sax parts make the song from time to time rather chaotic. It is followed by Porous Silver. A happy tune on guitar with jazzy influences. Next up is Nature Boy. This starts as a lazy tune on the sax. Later on, there is a bit of sax and guitar battle while the electric piano accompanies those instruments. The best is saved for the final part of the album. Lividity And The Ascension ends the album and is a really beautiful composition with excellent guitar parts. Only too bad that this more progressive rock related track is only three minutes and the shortest track on the entire album. If you like instrumental music with influences from avant-garde jazz, fusion, math and progressive rock Standard Deviation is for you to discover. However, if you are into the average progressive rock and don't want your music sounding too chaotic I can't advice this album to you. It doesn't mean the three musicians can't play the right music. It just depends how your personal taste is. Just like with food. You like it or you don't! As for myself this dish had some really nice flavour, even if it was sometimes a bit chaotic. *** Henri Strik (edited by Dave Smith) Where to buy? |
