SOM - Let The Light In (Album Review)

Release Date: March 14th 2025. Record Label: Pelagic Records. Formats: DD/Vinyl

Let The Light In - Tracklisting

1.Don't Look Back

2.Let The Light In 04:07

3.Chemicals 05:12

4.The Place That I Belong

5.Give Blood 04:22

6.Nightmares 04:44

7.Under Streetlights

8.The Light

Members

Will Benoit (Voice, Bass, Guitar, Electronics)

Justin Forrest (Drums, Bass)

Mike Repasch-Nieves (Guitar, Piano)

Joel Reynolds (Guitar, Synth)

Review

Post-Rock/Psych/Doomgazers SOM are back with their new album Let The Light In where they aim for bigger, heavier and grander things which ranks as their most original record to date. Featuring members of JUNIUS, Caspian and Constants, the members know how to perfectly construct a song with a deeply emotional core which allows the sweeping vocals and heavy progressive sounds to aim for the sweet spot. Though, SOM have created their heaviest record yet with outbursts of Sludge Rock, Post-Metal and Progressive based melodies.

The sound is still part of the Space Rock world with a passing resemblance to HUM and CAVE IN. SOM still moves into areas of Atmospheric Doom-Pop heard on their last record The Shape Of Everything. There is a perfect balance of LOUD vs QUIET dynamics where SOM blend Stadium Rock sized commercial melodies with a heavier underground perspective when the record becomes interested in delivering Sludge Rock/Metal grooves which can be quite forward thinking in places.

The opening tracks of Don’t Look Back and Let The Light In allows SOM to play a style of music heard on their last couple records but with a clearer Post-Rock and Shoegaze narrative with the excellent vocals from Will Benoit being quite grounded. There's a level of GRAVITAS to the way how Will delivers his vocals which could easily be matched against any musical genre and still sound brilliantly original in their own right. The instrumental melodies veer into heavier moments and then transform into more lighter fare with SOM adding different multi-layered Psychedelic and Space Rock effects with a subtle Post-Drone energy to them.

The album never feels rushed with SOM trying their hand at different areas of music we haven’t experienced from them before, especially on tracks such as Chemicals, The Place I Belong, Nightmares and Under Streetlights. Their music can be quite bleak and is wonderfully deceptive with the Doom-Pop elements allowing things to be underplayed at times.

There is a subtle DEFTONES energy resonating on the later stages of the record that I only noticed and wholly appreciated after multiple listens which made me love the record even more. Everything is still wholly original with SOM standing firm on their own creative ground.

Let The Light In excels the most where SOM overlap different sound effects, vocals and progressive Space Rock sounds with deeply engaging lyrics that makes this album quite a cinematic trip told through the power of music. The Synths and Piano aspects are another highlight for me as these add a sense of realism to SOM’s music especially within the quieter moments of the record.

SOM have released a massive sounding record that will no doubt be classed as one of Post-Rock/Shoegaze most essential albums to own this year. This could be a game changer for SOM on future releases and I’m quite excited to see the journey the band venture onto next. As I cannot recommend this album highly enough. 

Let The Light In is simply unmissable.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Pelagic Records for the promo.

Let The Light In will be available to buy on DD/Vinyl via Pelagic Records from Friday 14th March 2025.

Links

 

Official | Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

US ALT-METALLERS SOM SHARE VIDEO FOR ANGULAR NEW SINGLE ‘CHEMICALS’

NEW LP ‘LET THE LIGHT IN’ SET FOR MARCH RELEASE ALONGSIDE US TOUR WITH EARTHSIDE

 

SOM - Photo by Mike Repasch-Nieves

SOM have shared the video for ‘Chemicals', the latest single taken from their forthcoming third full-length album 'Let The Light In’, on March 14th 2025 through Berlin’s Pelagic Records.

>> PREORDER ‘LET THE LIGHT IN’ <<

 

>> LISTEN TO ‘CHEMICALS’ NOW << 

With a unique sound dubbed “Doom Pop” by Metal Injection, SOM’s dreamy shoegaze roots are on display across ‘Let The Light In’ but there is heft at its core that is bracing and ferocious. If the band’s debut album ‘The Fall’ explored hitting rock bottom and sophomore release ‘The Shape of Everything’ grappled with the ever-darkening world around us, ‘Let The Light In’ sees SOM turn their sights inward, towards our most primal impulses; seeking solace and reconciliation from the vibrancy within ourselves and the people we hold close.

Adversity became the catalyst for change when, due to unforeseen circumstances, the band’s founding drummer left midway through the album’s writing and recording process. SOM took the remainder of 2023 to reshape and refocus, eventually re-recording most of the album in a new configuration that allowed them to paint in even broader sonic strokes. The result is a raw but richly melodic album unafraid to travel through the depths of human emotion, ultimately guiding us towards growth and enlightenment.

Angular and anthemic, ‘Chemicals’ is SOM at their most dynamically adept. Marrying the alt-metal menace of high-gain distortion and punching, half-time drums with catchy hooks and soaring vocal euphoria; ‘Chemicals’ is the newly-refigured four-piece fully embracing the broad spectrum of their ‘Doom Pop’ dichotomy. Directed by artist/director Joel Villegas, who has worked with the likes of Holy Fawn, Poison The Well and Glassing, the video for ‘Chemicals’ is a sultry, psyched-out trip that pairs the saturated, lo-fi warmth of CRT monitors with the band’s truly panoramic sound.

Since 2019, SOM have toured extensively across North America, Europe and the UK alongside acts including Katatonia, Solstafir, Slow Crush and many more. This relentless live commitment across 21 countries, coupled with 2023’s introspective restructuring, has profoundly altered their creative approach.

As they began working on this new material, the members of SOM found themselves in a fresh headspace, armed with a newfound, hard-earned maturity. Let The Light In is SOM's testament to resilience and evolution. Born from challenge and change, the album pulses with confidence and catharsis, imploring the listener and the band themselves to traverse the darkness and find the light.

‘Let The Light In’ is released on the 14th of March, 2025

‘Chemicals’ is out now.

Live Dates with Earthside:

Fri 2/21 - Boston, MA @ The Middle East
Sat 2/22 - Montréal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz PDB
Sun 2/23 - Toronto, ON @ Drake Underground
Tue 2/25 - Detroit, MI @ The Sanctuary
Wed 2/26 - Cleveland, OH @ The Foundry
Thu 2/27 - Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen
Sat 3/1 - Nashville, TN @ The End
Sun 3/2 - Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
Wed 3/5 - Orlando, FL @ Conduit
Fri 3/7 - Baltimore, MD @ Metro
Sat 3/8 - Brooklyn, NY @ The Meadows

Tickets available here.

Official | Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Thanks to Pelagic Records for all of the details.

US ‘Doom Pop’ outfit SOM announce reinventive new album, ‘Let the Light In’

U.S. ‘DOOM POP’ OUTFIT SOM ANNOUNCE REINVENTIVE NEW ALBUM, ‘LET THE LIGHT IN’

CATHARTIC AND CONCUSSIVE, SINGLE ‘GIVE BLOOD’ SPEAKS OF LESSONS LEARNED

SOM - Credit: Mike Repasch-Nieves

>> PREORDER ‘LET THE LIGHT IN’ << /  >> LISTEN TO GIVE BLOOD NOW <<

SOM have announced the release of their third full-length album, ‘Let The Light In’, on March 14th 2025 through Berlin left-field label Pelagic Records.

With a unique sound dubbed “Doom Pop” by Metal Injection, SOM’s dreamy shoegaze roots are on display across ‘Let The Light In’ but there is heft at its core that is bracing and ferocious. If the band’s debut album ‘The Fall’ explored hitting rock bottom and sophomore release ‘The Shape of Everything’ grappled with the ever-darkening world around us, ‘Let The Light In’ sees SOM turn their sights inward, towards our most primal impulses; seeking solace and reconciliation from the vibrancy within ourselves and the people we hold close.

Adversity became the catalyst for change when, due to unforeseen circumstances, the band’s founding drummer left midway through the album’s writing and recording process. SOM took the remainder of 2023 to reshape and refocus, eventually re-recording most of the album in a new configuration that allowed them to paint in even broader sonic strokes. The result is a raw but richly melodic album unafraid to travel through the depths of human emotion, ultimately guiding us towards growth and enlightenment.

Serving as a reinvigorated statement of intent, lead single ‘Give Blood’ unleashes a barrage of post-metal, high gain distortion and pummeling drums before opening up into a panoramic, cloudbusting chorus that sees duelling guitars and vocalist Will Benoit’s tender yet commanding voice freely intertwined; spiralling ever upwards.

To accompany this brand new song, SOM has unveiled a music video with a particularly cinematic feel, directed by Alex Pace (Blood Incantation, Wayfarer, Abrams...). The video features an anonymous couple in a series of intense, dreamlike shots crossed by swirls of light. But abruptly, a darker side appears, counterbalancing this idyll. A sumptuous video that seems to invite viewers to make their own interpretation of it.

Since 2019, SOM have toured extensively across North America, Europe and the UK alongside acts including Katatonia, Solstafir, Slow Crush and many more. This relentless live commitment across 21 countries, coupled with 2023’s introspective restructuring, has profoundly altered their creative approach.

As they began working on this new material, the members of SOM found themselves in a fresh headspace, armed with a newfound, hard-earned maturity. Let The Light In is SOM's testament to resilience and evolution. Born from challenge and change, the album pulses with confidence and catharsis, imploring the listener and the band themselves to traverse the darkness and find the light.

‘Let The Light In’ is released on the 14th of March, 2025. ‘Give Blood’ is out now.

SOM ’s Will Benoit on ‘Give Blood’:

“It’s a sort of post-pandemic reflection on kindness and how we treat one another. The idea came while I was laying on a table actually giving blood. It occurred to me how kind someone would have to be to be doing this during a pandemic. I started to think about how many people were doing awful things at that time, spreading misinformation and just generally being horrible people in society. I continue to want to do everything I can to not be that person, I want to be the kind of person who ‘gives blood’."

Official | Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Thanks to Pelagic Records for the details.

SOM - The Shape Of Everything (Album Review)

Release Date: January 21st 2022. Record Label: Pelagic Records. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

The Shape Of Everything - Tracklisting

1.Moment

2.Animals 04:30

3.Center

4.Shape

5.Clocks

6.Wrong

7.Heart Attack

8.Son of Winter

Members

Will Benoit – vocals, guitars

Justin Forrest – bass

Mike Repasch-Nieves – guitars

Joel M. Reynolds – guitars

Duncan Rich – drums

Review

SOM are a band I haven’t really taken much notice of until I heard their excellent Awake EP and stunning rendition of Billie Eilish’s song Everything I Wanted. I know the band was made up of members of Post-Rock outfits such as Caspian. Junius and Constants which I’ve heard various releases over the years and enjoyed their creative output.

I was looking forward to their new album The Shape Of Everything to see if the SOM would deliver after their stunning work in 2021. This album is a heavy mix of Post-Rock, Post-Metal, Ambient Doom, Psych Rock and Modern Pop Sensibilities. This album is being touted as “Doom-POP” by some folks. A term I’ve used myself to describe bands such as FLOOR and TORCHE. 

However, SOM maybe the perfect representation of the “DOOM-POP” sound. As this album is full of wonderful pop hooks, heavy atmospheric riffs and a gloomy DOOM ROCK environment for SOM to paint their musical canvas upon. The album reminds myself of Deftones, HUM and TORCHE though SOM plays a slightly more Ambient and Alternative style of Rock/Metal.

Opening song - Moments - has that care-free Ambient/Post-Rock attitude whilst moving along to the heavy Doomed out grooves SOM have written for this track. The atmosphere is quite Psychedelic with Spaced Out sounds giving way to the lush and fantastical vocals that appear on the record. Slightly reminiscent of HUM’s 2020 comeback album INLET in places, SOM still play their own distinctive style of music that has a wonderful Shoegaze effect towards the later stages. 

Second song - Animals - opens with a more melancholic style of Post-Rock before the sludgy DOOM-POP riffs appear with the intelligent lyrics telling a well focused story.. The vocals are superb yet again with SOM merging different styles of music, voices and noise effects for one of the album's standout tracks. The haunting and groove-laden heavy guitars bring a cool burst of aggression towards the end of the song.

Third song - Center - is a rollercoaster of emotions with SOM laying it all out there for everyone to hear. Slow paced gloomy DOOM-POP riffs are dialed back for this song as SOM offer a more stripped back song where the vocals and lyrics deliver all the excitement you need for this part of the album. The instrumental work is a fine balance of Ambient Post-Rock and Aggressive Post-Metal for a constantly evolving style of music that could easily find an audience within the mainstream rock/metal world.

Fourth song - Shape - is another dazzling mix of different styles of music that brings a more “Alternative Rock” feel to the album. The music could be heavier but I enjoyed the different style of this song where the music is LOUDER but not as HEAVY compared to the other three songs. SOM brings a multi-layered approach to this song and for the rest of the album. Another one of the standout songs on the album.

The second half of the album sees SOM bring a more minimalist and world-weary approach with everything being quite heartfelt. Heavy guitars intertwined with everything that comes from the Post-Rock/Post-Metal worlds but with an underground Doom Rock flavour especially on songs such as: Clocks, Wrong and Son Of Winter.

The production duties are handled by SOM’s very own Will Benoit and he does a first-rate job here with The Shape Of Everything sounding superb from start to finish. Will does have a keen ear for “DOOM-esque” melodies and atmosphere whilst giving it a slight mainstream spin. 

The Shape Of Everything could end up being one of 2022’s most definitive and distinctive releases. This is an album packed with genuine heartfelt emotion and fantastic aggressive melodies that only SOM can deliver.

Simply unmissable and a must-have release.

Words by Steve Howe

The Shape Of Everything will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl from Pelagic Records from January 21st 2022.

Links

http://www.som.band
http://www.facebook.com/somtheband
http://www.twitter.com/somtheband
http://www.instagram.com/somtheband