2023-07-21 07:00:13
(c) Sleeps
This was indicated: Dreams were able to establish themselves with their first two albums as a stoner sludge insider tip within a very short time. The US trio has been extremely versatile in the past, full of small and big surprises, always good for a destructive riff, a cathartic outburst of rage and psychedelic-prog soul-searching. With a new label home in the back, the third is going “desire” now finally through the roof.
Singer and guitarist Justin Sherrell was inspired by a series of dreams in which he experienced different lives and realities until witnessing a suicide. Processing followed in the waking state, and so the record appropriately opens with ‘Death Is The Beginning’. Where others would probably let pathos and existential fears reign supreme, Somnuri try rough and unruly. Nasty, throaty, almost hoarse Sludge peels out of the speakers and tears everything apart. Instead of heading for further extremes, surprising melodies follow. The band from Brooklyn has a knack for hung catchiness with stoner and doom influences, slightly psychedelic and at the same time very complex. The result is a five-minute fanfare with several small eruptions.
This triumphal procession continues over the entire length of the album. Short, concise episodes like “Flesh & Blood” lash out, appear rough and unpolished, but still catch your ear. Not for the last time, memories of Mastodon are awakened, although Somnuri follow their very own approach. “Pale Eyes” goes to the substance as a sprinter and to the barricades, seems to overturn in places, only to attain hymn-like intensity at the climax. And then there’s The Way Out, the epic finale. The conceptual bracket is not only closed by the title, the mixture of guttural anger and one of the most beautiful melodies on the entire record draws the arc to the opener. Boiling steadily and incessantly, disaster is inevitable.
“Desiderium” has become a small masterpiece, a magical and magnetic album that more than confidently keeps all the promises of the two predecessors. Yes, Somnuri continue to play Sludge, they just make it much broader and more diverse. Significantly more progressive and melodic energy meets elusive elemental force, anthemic and unpredictable at the same time. Where the journey leads should and may remain a mystery, but the path always inspires. Somnuri have one of the best albums of the year out, that’s for sure.
Rating: 9/10
Available from: 07/21/2023
Available via: MNRK Heavy (SPV)
Website: www.somnuri.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Somnuri
Slider-Pic (c) Somnuri
Category: Magazin, Reviews
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#Sleepiness #Desire
