REVIEW

The third album from U.S.-based post-metal and doomgaze band SOM.

Released via Pelagic Records, a long-established home for post-metal, SOM was formed by current and former members of Caspian, Junius, and Constants. Prior to this release, the band had issued two full-length albums and two EPs. During the recording of this album, founding drummer Duncan Rich departed, prompting a shift in the lineup. The current formation consists of Will Benoit (vocals, bass, guitar, electronics), Justin Forrest (drums, bass), Mike Repasch-Nieves (guitar, piano), and Joel Reynolds (guitar, synths).

SOM’s sound is built on the interplay between grunge-, shoegaze-, and doom metal–derived guitar weight and an ethereal vocal presence. This balance led Metal Injection to describe their music as “doom pop,” an apt phrase that captures its distinctive character—heavy yet strangely inviting, like sweetness clinging to the thorns of a briar. Influences hinted at on their 2023 EP, including an admiration for Depeche Mode and a visual nod to Type O Negative through green-toned artwork, remain clearly present here. Interviews have confirmed the artwork as an intentional homage, and Benoit has also spoken of early conceptual ideas involving a figure with the commanding presence of Peter Steele—an ideal he acknowledges he could never fully embody, but one that nonetheless lingered as a reference point.

As suggested by its title, “Let the Light In” signals a noticeable shift in tone. Where earlier releases leaned more heavily into melancholy, this album appears to move toward an openness to hope. The change is most explicit on #2 “Let the Light In,” written amid the bleak atmosphere of the pandemic, where the repeated invocation to “let the light in” functions as both lyric and thesis statement.

As a result, the album as a whole feels less overtly dark than its predecessors. From a dark shoegaze perspective, this may register as a slight softening. Yet the contrast between restraint and intensity works to the advantage of certain tracks. #5 “Give Blood” stands out for its sharp interplay of stillness and force, while #8 “The Light” channels a decadent, deeply resonant sorrow. In these moments, darkness feels more potent precisely because it is set against a brighter backdrop—an embodiment of the idea that the stronger the light, the deeper the shadow it casts.

Beginning in October, the band is set to tour the UK alongside Blanket in support of Slow Crush. How this turn toward light shapes their next phase remains an intriguing question—and one that invites continued attention as their trajectory unfolds.