{"id":98430,"date":"2025-03-13T22:11:48","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T22:11:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=98430"},"modified":"2025-03-13T22:14:24","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T22:14:24","slug":"review-som-let-the-light-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-som-let-the-light-in\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: SOM &#8211; Let the Light In"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-98432\" src=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cover-SOM-Let-The-Light-In-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"SOM - Let The Light In\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cover-SOM-Let-The-Light-In-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cover-SOM-Let-The-Light-In-800x800.jpg 800w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cover-SOM-Let-The-Light-In-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cover-SOM-Let-The-Light-In-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/cover-SOM-Let-The-Light-In.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>With its ranks including former members of Caspian, Constants and Junius, US &#8220;doom pop&#8221; purveyors\u00a0<strong>SOM<\/strong> return with their third album &#8211;\u00a0<em>&#8216;Let the Light In&#8217;<\/em>. While past releases saw them dwell on the darkness of the world, this new eight-track collection aims to be introspective, as the quartet seek solace and reconciliation from themselves and others around them. It also sees the line-up be reconfigured as Justin Forrest moved over to drums to replace the departed Duncan Rich. While singer Will Benoit swaps guitar for bass.<\/p>\n<p>On the surface, this is achieved by producing a melancholic series of songs.\u00a0Opener &#8216;Don&#8217;t<em> Look Back&#8217;<\/em> quickly establishes this. With its cinematic space rock tone, Benoit, Rich, along with guitarists Joel Reynolds and Mike Repasch-Nieves are able to lift listeners up, balancing cathartic vocals with edgy guitars.<\/p>\n<p>One characteristic <strong>SOM<\/strong> are clearly capable of pulling off is being able to create impressive soundscapes. The blend of Benoit&#8217;s ethereal vocals and rich musicianship, drenched in shoegaze and post-rock, often leaves you compelled. The hat-trick of the title track, <em>Chemicals&#8217;<\/em> and\u00a0<em>&#8216;The Place That I Belong&#8217;<\/em> are the perfect example of this.\u00a0<em>&#8216;Let the Light In&#8217;<\/em> ebbs and flows with metallic guitars and Benoit&#8217;s soothing voice, building to a wall of reverberating guitars.\u00a0<em>&#8216;Chemicals&#8217;\u00a0<\/em>buries itself with pensive guitars before picking up for a soaring chorus, showered in lyrical doubt.\u00a0<em>&#8220;It feels like I\u2019ve lived myself into a corner, Now I can\u2019t see myself in the mirror,&#8221;\u00a0<\/em>sings Benoit loftily. <em>&#8216;The Place That I Belong&#8217;<\/em> flourishes in its shoegaze skin, shimmering with droning guitars and whispered vocals.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"SOM - Let The Light In (Official Video)\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VrRIXBRRx0E?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In contrast,\u00a0<em>&#8216;Give Blood&#8217;<\/em> launches with intent, emphasising <strong>SOM<\/strong>&#8216;s post-metal tendencies. Its rigid execution gives way to a cathartic chorus (<em>&#8220;I&#8217;ll find a way to focus on the healing&#8221;<\/em>). The quartet&#8217;s scope and capabilities flourish with confidence. As a listener, they constantly leave you drawn in. Likewise,\u00a0<em>&#8216;Nightmares&#8217;<\/em> is a riveting highlight with ringing guitars floating above Benoit&#8217;s harmonious vocals, collectively showing their melodic flair.<\/p>\n<p>Threaded together with catharsis, <em>&#8216;Let the Light In&#8217;<\/em> is a layered, commanding record that more often than not leaves you mesmerised. Even though they&#8217;re not breaking new sonic ground,\u00a0<strong>SOM<\/strong> streamline their sound. It results in them finding solace in a celestial tone, while lyrically exploring their purpose and morality.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8216;Let The Light In<\/em>&#8216; by <strong>SOM <\/strong>is released on March 14th on <strong>Pelagic Records<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Find <strong>SOM\u00a0<\/strong>on: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/somtheband\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/somtheband\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/artist\/0l5d2oD9unQCRRogw47e2Q?si=6ME0tH1mT8CDLw-dAbF0rA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Spotify<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/music.apple.com\/gb\/artist\/som\/1437830814\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Apple Music<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/somtheband.bandcamp.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bandcamp<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/linktr.ee\/somtheband\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Linktr.ee<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.som.band\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Website<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;&#8221;doom pop&#8221; purveyors return with a layered, commanding record that more often than not leaves you mesmerised&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98432,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[17746],"class_list":["post-98430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-som"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review: SOM - Let the Light In - Already Heard Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"&quot;&quot;doom pop&quot; purveyors return with a layered, commanding record that more often than not leaves you mesmerised&quot;\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review: SOM - Let the Light In - Already Heard Staging\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&quot;&quot;doom pop&quot; 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