Somaesthesia - Recidivist EP

Labels: Self-Released

Formats: Digital

Release Date: 14 Feb 2020

Tracklist:

1. Trepanation

2. -

3. The Great Illusion

4. Contrition

I have been looking forward to this long weekend for so long now! I'm using it as a chance to catch up on a lot of music I've missed and to get some much needed writing done. I have a rough schedule but am kicking things off with this new EP from Scottish progressive death/sludge band Somaesthesia. The Edinburgh quintet released their debut EP Path Of Lest Resistance back in 2017 and since then, they've played shows alongside Under, Kurokuma and Cryptopsy amongst many others. Recidivist was self-released digitally by the band in February.

Somaesthesia is very much from the same school as bands like Meshuggah and Mastodon. Those comparisons are listed in the band’s own social media bio but they’re pretty accurate,. EP opener ‘Trepanation’ is brimming with off-kilter tempos, sludge-like grooviness and even a hint of Swe-death (maybe?). There’s an eagerness to obliterate all in their path but Somaesthesia do slow things down mid-way through and let their progressive influences take further hold. It’s strangely psychedelic at times. The song solely named as ‘Dash’ that follows is an instrumental interlude but one that builds plenty of intrigue when moving into the second half of the EP.

From here the song’s get longer. ‘The Great Illusion’ is nearly eight-minutes of groovy sludge and post-metal. There’s subtle melody within the roared vocals that is matched by the instrumentation. The occasional bursts of kick drumming pick the pace up, but don’t detract from the impressive song-writing and musicianship here. Final song ‘Contrition’ steamrolls it’s way into your ears almost immediately after and pretty much doesn’t stop. One thing that hits you on Recidivist is the aggressiveness. It’s not always obvious but it is constant, especially in the vocals, though that point is totally broadsided by the clean singing used briefly in the song’s latter half. 

Somaesthesia has a nostalgic quality to them, one that I can’t quite put my finger on. if you like heavy but tuneful and well-thought out metal that’s not just brutish noise then look no further than this EP. Scotland is famous for a lot of things and a unique underground metal scene is one of them. 

You can stream and purchase Recidivist digitally below:-

Somaesthesia - https://www.facebook.com/somaesthesia.band/