Reto Mäder is quite a prolific artist, from his solo work as RM74, with Steven Hess in Ural Umbo to his role in Pendulum Nisum. His more metal-influenced work as Sum of R (Mäder with guitarist Julia Wolf) has a relatively small discography, with this being his second full-length work other than a few self-released CDRs. Ride Out the Waves makes for a dense, psych tinged experiment that recalls some of the best moments of early Godflesh, juxtaposed with abstract free-form experimentation.
The opening "Growing Into Something Special" sets up the album perfectly:initially a slow ambient build and far-off rattling and crashes, it quite jarringly launches into sharp drums and detuned guitar riffs, paring that dissonant, murky space with steady, lurching chords and knife-like beats.
It is this combination of stiff, aggressive drum programming and grimy, sludgy guitar that make for the best moments of the album.The jerky stop/start structure and loud, ugly guitar of "In The Fields of Trust" work especially well, even though it comparatively makes for a more tame song.The same goes for "Echo," a foggy sludgefest that crawls along with a slow, menacing pace.
"Alarming" takes the same blunt approach, going right into pounding machine and guitar like old school Godflesh, channeling that same slow, depressing but not necessarily angry vibe.With the addition of shrill sine waves and an air-raid siren lifted right out of "War Pigs," it closes the album on an especially chaotic note.
Mixed between, however, is some less head-nodding, more beard stroking moments of experimentation and composition.The sparse piano, static, and understated guitar playing of "Mist of Tears" demonstrates that Sum of R are not afraid to step away from the riff and into more ambient territories.While "Captured Lightning" might come across as a bit dense, there is an almost progressive vibe to it, with more insinuated tension rather than outward aggression.
As the project's full length follow up to the 2008 self-titled album on Utech, Sum of R is developing a distinct identity amongst Mäder’s slew of side and solo projects.Capturing both dark, creepy atmospherics and aggressive, memorable guitar work, it nicely balances the formless and the structured, and works quite well as a fully realized album.
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