Suns of the Tundra (Prog Metal - Fans of Tool may appreciate)

Discussion in 'Other Music' started by Moridin, Oct 19, 2014.

  1. #1
    Moridin

    Moridin Death Contagious Deity

    Joined:
    May 25, 2010
    Messages:
    1,181
    Likes Received:
    27



    OK, so Suns of the Tundra are a Prog Metal/Rock band from England. Back in the early '90's they went by the name "Peach", which hardcore Tool fans may recognise as bassist Justin Chancellor's original band. Peach broke up around the same time Chancellor joined Tool, in 1995.

    A few years later there was a renewed interest in Peach, thanks in large part to Tool covering a couple of songs live in the late '90's (You Lied & Spasm, the former released on Tool's Salival compilation), so their 1993 debut album "Giving Birth to a Stone" was reissued in 2000 (along with new cover art by Adam Jones, Tool's guitarist).

    They then reformed (sans Chancellor) under the name Suns of the Tundra, releasing self-titled album in 2004, "Tunguska" in 2006, & an EP "Illuminate" in 2009. They'll have a double album coming out in the near future called "Bones of Brave Ships".

    I had picked at them occasionally over the last 6 years or so, listening to a song here and there, but nothing really stuck... until the past 2-3 months when I gave Tunguska a proper go and everything just clicked.


    Now I think these guys are criminally underrated and deserve a hell of a lot more attention, so check them out!

    (From the Illuminate EP)
    [video=youtube;dALfyJvPXDI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dALfyJvPXDI[/video]

    (Full 2006 album Tunguska)
    [video=youtube;3XUXffmKtbw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XUXffmKtbw[/video]

    (From 2004 Self-titled)
    [video=youtube;RLnMU_t23-M]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLnMU_t23-M[/video]
     
  2. #2
    Alexrednex

    Alexrednex Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 9, 2010
    Messages:
    1,132
    Likes Received:
    230



    Goddammit some of this is really good.
    Thanks for the recommendation!
     
  3. #3
    Moridin

    Moridin Death Contagious Deity

    Joined:
    May 25, 2010
    Messages:
    1,181
    Likes Received:
    27


  4. #4
    Moridin

    Moridin Death Contagious Deity

    Joined:
    May 25, 2010
    Messages:
    1,181
    Likes Received:
    27


  5. #5
    Moridin

    Moridin Death Contagious Deity

    Joined:
    May 25, 2010
    Messages:
    1,181
    Likes Received:
    27


  6. #6
    Moridin

    Moridin Death Contagious Deity

    Joined:
    May 25, 2010
    Messages:
    1,181
    Likes Received:
    27



    SotT have launched a kickstarter for the CD/Vinyl edition of Bones of Brave Ships. Their target is £3,300 by the 12th of February. Any pledges immediately get a download of new song "Serenity in Motion".

    https://www.kickstarter.com/project...dra-vinyl-fundraiser-bones-of-brave?ref=video

    There's clips of new music in the kickstarter video in the link above. Sounding great, I'm really looking forward to it.

    EDIT:Also:


    ----
    Also, a "sneak peak" of the tracklist;
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Dec 29, 2014
  7. #7
    Gibs

    Gibs The Prog Nerd Über Member

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2012
    Messages:
    12,526
    Likes Received:
    5,916



    As much as I would like to help fund these guys (and get that 2LP + 2CD), I'm still not quite entirely sold on them. They're not bad, but not too terribly original either.

    I'll have to think about it.
     
    Last edited: Dec 29, 2014
  8. #8
    Moridin

    Moridin Death Contagious Deity

    Joined:
    May 25, 2010
    Messages:
    1,181
    Likes Received:
    27



    Ah, I was once like you.:rasberry:

    Like I said earlier, they didn't click with me for years. If you want to give them a fair shake I'd recommend focusing on Tunguska and giving a solid 10 or 12 front to back listens (That's personally what I do, 10 to 12 full listens has proven to be the necessary amount for me to learn an album and decide how much I like it). Tunguska is definitely an "album" album. A lot of tracks flow together like they're one song split up, like Capsized>Capricorn Gone>Sandettie Light Automatic. And the production is great, IMO, those bass & guitar tones are droolworthy, and it has this "nautical" (for want of a better word) vibe that I really like (which is going to be perfect for Bones of Brave Ships as a soundtrack for an Antarctic expedition).

    Anyway, it's cool if you don't like 'em. Nothing is for everyone.
     
    Last edited: Dec 30, 2014
  9. #9
    Moridin

    Moridin Death Contagious Deity

    Joined:
    May 25, 2010
    Messages:
    1,181
    Likes Received:
    27



    Figured I'd post Peach's album "Giving Birth to a Stone" so people can hear the origins of SotT.


    01. Spasm (Covered by Tool in the late 90's)
    02. Naked
    03. Catfood (King Crimson cover)
    04. Velvet
    05. Dougal
    06. Burn
    07. Signpost in the Sea
    08. You Lied (Covered by Tool in the late 90's, & again in recent years)
    09. Don't Make Me Your God
    10. Peach

    While the album was released in 1994, all the songs had been previously released on 4 EP's across 1992/93.

    There was another song on one of the '92 EP's that didn't make the first album but would have been on the second, "Disappear Here". Not sure if that version is from the EP or the re-recording that would have gone on the 2nd album (which would have come out in 1995), or possibly even re-recorded by SotT.

    There was also an EP in 1991, "Flow With the Tide", but none of those songs made the album & I can't find it on youtube.
     
  10. #10
    Moridin

    Moridin Death Contagious Deity

    Joined:
    May 25, 2010
    Messages:
    1,181
    Likes Received:
    27



    SotT's Kickstarter has exceeded the minimum goal needed for funding the double vinyl/double CD edition, so it's definitely going ahead:
    https://www.kickstarter.com/project...dra-vinyl-fundraiser-bones-of-brave?ref=video

    But there's still a couple of days left before it closes completely (Thursday morning, 09:10 GMT) so if anyone reading this was on the fence about pledging there's time to snag a copy or even just get the digital download.

    ------
    A clip from recording of Bones:
    [video=youtube;5IYJCb14FLc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IYJCb14FLc&feature=player_embedded[/video]

    And some pics
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Feb 9, 2015
  11. #11
    Moridin

    Moridin Death Contagious Deity

    Joined:
    May 25, 2010
    Messages:
    1,181
    Likes Received:
    27



    Bones of Brave Ships is out now. Full album streaming on Spotify, Deezer etc. & here on Youtube. Up on iTunes also.

    I'd say the first 8-10 songs are great, gets a bit scattered after that, with some tracks being call backs to earlier motifs (Elephant Island, Fear of Walking Away, Biast III), & a couple of tracks taking forever to get going with haunting, soundscape-y intros.

    Damn good album. Maybe great.. too soon to tell, it's a lot to take in at 81 minutes (17 tracks).

    Love the production, too.


    My favoutite tracks so far,
    Serenity in Motion:
    [video=youtube;rgoYtZHAZFE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgoYtZHAZFE[/video]


    Endurance:
    [video=youtube;lEh6V4HckRk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEh6V4HckRk[/video]


    Restless (Listen to the Clock):
    [video=youtube;_3c-qfxyMKs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3c-qfxyMKs[/video]


    Ghosts of Our Mothers:
    [video=youtube;2BiGy9frWNc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BiGy9frWNc[/video]
     

Share This Page