Album Review: WINDHAND – ‘SOMA’

From the moment I heard Orchid, the first track on Soma, the debut full-length out now on Relapse from Richmond, Virginia doom metal band Windhand, I laid in wait for it to stream online before it’s upcoming September 17th release. Which it did, allowing me to listen to the stellar, constellation-swirling record daily, for almost a week. As the well-deserved accolades for Soma have rolled in, it’s clear that the record will find its way on nearly every metal “Best of 2013 List”. A point that I completely agree with. And like some of the other excellent stoner-doom that has been released this year, Windhand is unabashed at their ability to coax the soul of Sabbath into their sound. And the band’s heavy metal nod to Sweet Leaf  is undeniable on Orchid. With the release of Soma, Windhand has poised themselves as leviathans in the gloom-swilling business. And the gloom-swilling business is good.

Vocalist Dorthia Cottrell, who, like the other members of Windhand, has been a member of Richmond’s music scene since the 90’s, leads Windhand. And it’s Cottrell’s powerful, and at times androgynous sound that helps add to Windhand’s mythological metal groove. All six deeply distorted, complex tracks on Soma push the limits of stoner rock, and then break them in fucking bits. The chorus on track 2, Woodbine, drones on with a voodoo version of a long-gone flower-child phrase, “Love what you are”. Woodbine’s message nearly cracks the 10-minute mark, as it hums and buzzes around you – fluidly slam dancing in a field of poppies on the edge of chaos.

Track 4, Evergreen, is a sweet, stripped down lush jam – with only Cottrell’s vocals and a guitar for nearly 8 minutes. Evergreen is followed up by Cassock that clocks in at a bowel shaking 14:46. The track relentlessly bludgeons along, and at about 11 minutes in, slowly builds in tension, concluding with an auditory assault and battery, by way of feedback and concussion-inducing percussion.

But it’s the final track, Boleskine, that completely breaks a hole in Soma’s gray, grunge-tinged sky. A sound that you can actually hear just before the mind-whomping  30+ minute epilogue hits the 3-minute mark. The first time I heard it, it was it was like something had blown the roof completely off my house, and I was about to get sucked into a tornado bound for some heavy metal version of Oz (sounds nice, doesn’t it?). Like Soma in its entirety, Boleskine hulks along at a slow and methodical pace, hell-bent in purpose. Riffs are laid on thick, the fog machine is going, and the drummer isn’t going to stop the assault on his kit. Not now. Maybe not ever. When Boleskine concludes, in your mind you’ll still be racing toward Valhalla, sword in hand, bruised and bloody. Soma is without question one of the best metal records of 2013 to date.

The band is currently appearing on some tour dates with High on Fire, and their metal brothers from Norway, Kvelertak, who I think put out the best metal record this year to date. And yeah, I’ll arm wrestle you to prove that statement. However, in Indian and Persian folklore, the Soma plant was considered a God. And when it comes to doom metal, Windhand has proved themselves to be worthy of the same title.

I highly recommend that Soma be listened to on my preferred pathway, vinyl. Since nothing says metal like a gatefold record, Soma was pressed in limited release on 180, in three different colors, as well as black. Naturally.