SOM - The Shape Of Everything (2022)

After their killer 2021 “Awake” EP, all-star outfit SOM returns with their much anticipated full-length release “The Shape of Everything”. Featuring members of bands like Junius and Caspian, this album delivers over 34 minutes of extremely melancholic and yet heavy amalgamation of all kinds of genres ranging from Doom to Post-Rock and Post-Metal. Creating a very unique signature style, this release is set to be on plenty of best albums of 2022 releases.

Opening with the melancholy of “Moment”, the band quickly establishes a very moody atmosphere, similar to bands like Deftones and Junius, but with a more shoegazey and dreamy edge. The clean vocals create very powerful melodies, perfectly soaring from the textured guitars of tracks like the Deafheaven-esque “Animals” and the playful “Center”. The band’s versatility can be heard on our favorite “Shape”, a piece that delivers a hefty dosage of heavy riffs alongside more subtle and ethereal guitar work.

There are definitely some Pop-esque elements that nicely propel the band’s melodies to new levels as we can hear in tracks like the piercing “Wrong”, and the crafty “Heart Attack”. Saving one of the best for last, “Son of Winter”, closes the album in a very elegant fashion with layered guitars and a very melancholic pace. Overall, “The Shape of Everything” is one hell of a majestic release perfectly crafted to deliver moody tunes and excellent vocal melodies all around. If you are a fan of bands like Alcest, Mono, Deftones, and Cult of Luna to some extent, this is the release for you.

Label: Pelagic Records

Release: January 21st, 2021

Genre: Atmospheric Doom/Post-Rock/Post-Metal

Country: USA