“I don’t believe in salvation, never again will I be able to feel”
If you’re looking for an album that almost sounds like Bring Me The Horizon circa 2009 mixed with some of the cleanest and most colossal sounding choruses to come from the decade so far, look no further than SOMA. That description is still greatly understating the potential and the product that Half Me bring to the table with their latest project, but it should be enough to get any core-hungry folk to run to their streaming devices. Only giving it a listen would actually allow for one to get through all the intricate details and different soundscapes that SOMA has to offer.
Half Me are a group that I was, shockingly, unaware of prior to my first listen through of this album’s singles, but the connection I had with their music was instantaneous. The familiar yet completely personal sound they’ve cultivated is reminiscent of one of my favorites in the scene, Void Of Vision. Later into my adventure of their history, I was shocked to find that they’ve actually worked with Jack Bergin on the standalone track “Exitwound”. Unsurprisingly, this track serves as a reasonable foundational point for the outfit, although not being nearly one of my favorites in their discography. However, SOMA displays a palatable level of growth for this group.
There wouldn’t be a wrong answer for which tracks to pick as singles or which to leave just for the record because each song is just as punchy and catchy as the last, so I found no issues getting into their sound with “Trauma Culture”. Immediately catching onto the nu-metalcore flare on the very first riff of this track had me smiling from ear to ear. It’s bouncy, messy, and memorable; everything you want on a song like this. There is no other place to truly experience this track besides on the floor of a mosh pit, shoving aside the thought of whether or not your ears will be okay after the show, along with whoever is next to you. This song has such an odd, yet harmonious structure that still allows its listener to transition smoothly into each section, making it a perfect place to start with the rolling out of this project.
Following my venture into the band’s singles came the monstrous opener that is “Wraith”. Having listened to the album now, this still remains one of my favorites on the record. Flaunting Max Eisersdorff’s viscous drum performance and capabilities that early on in the album was the best possible decision the band could have made to hook anybody’s attention. With verses so violent and a breakdown just as bold, it’s easy to make the comparison to industry leaders like Alpha Wolf who are well endowed with the ability to make an instant core classic. However, the real magic of this opener is embedded in the larger than life chorus that Christopher Zühlk belts out of nowhere. It’s established very early on that each and every one of this five piece are incredibly talented, deserving of even more attention than I predict this album might attract.
Later singles like “Blacklight” and “Ex Negativo” carry the same level of quality as their predecessors. Both come with an incredibly well written chorus accompanied by Christopher’s stellar vocal performance. The emotions that bleed from “Blacklight” are apparent in every sense, including the lyrical content, and the sudden pauses throughout the track catch you off guard on first listen in the best way possible. When it comes to the rollout of this record, I think these two tracks were the finest choices to market SOMA with. No other tracks on this album can sum up its general sound any better.
However, my sentiment towards their choices falters slightly with the closer “Half Me” being a single. I’m firm in my belief that there’s almost never a time where the closer of an album should be released without the full project, and that rings true for this record. I seriously love this track, and it absolutely has the level of quality deserving of that twelfth spot on SOMA. The slight differences in the two choruses on this cut are easily some of the most impressive bits on this album and rendered me speechless upon first listen, but I feel like those moments should’ve been left for the day of release. Now that I’ve replayed that song so many times, I feel like its star quality has dwindled and its spot as the encore of this record feels anticlimactic. While this carries the luxury of being one of the only issues with this work, it’s still a nitpick that I do have with my story with SOMA.
In the grand scheme, that issue does not matter much because the rest of this album lives up to the singles without a shadow of a doubt. Even with two interluding tracks, the latter being stunning with its orchestrals, every album track shattered my expectations in quality. The three most significant of these songs to me are “Distort”, “Magma Hour”, and “I Am But A Guest In Exile”. There’s no other way for me to say this; “Distort” is so fucking good. The song takes everything I love about this album and slaps on that electronic outro as well as a slew of effects and vocal chops. Again, this style reminds me of what I love about Void Of Vision and combines such a lovely mixture of sounds to be intrigued by. “Magma Hour” feels like one of the heaviest songs on this record at certain points, but the unique cleans here are not my favorite. Nonetheless, I appreciate them for doing something different with this track, especially when it still fits. “I Am But A Guest In Exile” does something similar to “Distort” for me. It’s chuggy and has these slightly atmospheric points just before some kind of huge drop. I think this song could have worked great as the introduction to the album, but it also serves as an introduction of another kind. I think from this point to the closer is such a brilliant string of tracks and exhibits Half Me’s greatest strengths.
SOMA is a debut album that will be challenging to top, but I think that this group has an immense amount of talent and are fully capable of doing so. From the first time I heard this record until now, I have been confident that it would hold up to be a standout by the end of this year, regardless of the fact that it’s an early call. If any of you core fans have not checked them out yet, I highly suggest that you take some time out of your day for them. There is so much to love about every song here and all of them will continue to be in my rotation for quite some time.
9/10
Soma is out February 17th via Arising Empire, and can be pre-ordered here.