There’s a lot to unpack here, even before you get to the audio. Soma — or SOMA, all-caps to highlight the acronym Sacred Order of Mystic Apogees — is a five-piece-and-then-some collective from the Asbury Park area of New Jersey. The music they play is connected to psychedelic rock in its rhythmic underpinnings and some of its tonal presence, but it is not rock and roll and while Your Soul is the Holy Sound is definitely interested in communion, the carefully arranged five tracks across the 30 minutes of the record aren’t getting there with volume or riffs. Instead, Soma perform a kind of devotional music known as kirtan, which is call-and-response chanting set to music.

At least some members of the group are rooted in the Jersey Shore rock underground, however. Stephen Triolo (Slow Rise, Constellation of Angels) and Robert Ryan (ex-Lord Sterling) take part, the latter under the assumed name of Shivanesh, and the lineup is completed by Kalpa, Nataraja and Vasudeva, also presumably assumed names, while Krishnadas Sharma, Madhuri and Bhakti Devi contributed backing vocals, John Krajewski, Triolo (who also mixed) and Nicholas Sudol recorded and Adam Vaccarelli at RetroMedia Sound in Red Bank mastered. It was recorded in an episcopal church. It is a cultural blend that is particularly New Jerseyan.

My beloved Garden State houses about 10 percent of the US population of Indian immigrants, and the town where I grew up, Parsippany (farther north from Asbury/Red Bank, and only in the state itself does that in any way matter), is an enclave to the point that the schools take off for Diwali and other holidays. At the same time, I don’t think I’ll be the first to note the Italian cultural influence in the region. They made The Sopranos about it, if you want to go just by the stereotypes or get a lesson in the state’s secondary, not-really-legal bureaucracies. But the Jersey is there in Soma‘s kirtan chants as well, and with the 10″ edition of the record put together through Samaritan Press with art by David V. D’Andrea (Om, etc.), the overarching impression is surprisingly encompassing for something that’s still just a half-hour long.

“Chamundaye” begins with a singular joy in its execution. As promised, the crux of what Soma do is in the call and response — a voice leads, others follow and repeat. If you’re open to it — and that’s going to be a question of some magnitude depending on how you feel about worshiping gods — the song is made to be sung, and that sense of outreach, of bringing the listener into the proceedings of Soma‘s homage, is the presiding impression across Your Soul is the Holy Sound. In addition to opening, “Chamundaye” is the longest inclusion (immediate points) at 7:53, and it grows to some proportion by the time it’s wrapping up, but while it has an instrumental melody, the bulk of its impact is in the percussion, whether that’s handclaps or hand-drumming, along with the melody of voice and (I think) sitar drone.

Your Soul is the Holy Sound does not get so danceable again, but it stays reverent. “Father of Ma’at” has a spoken part over an instrumental exploration that winds up in a meditative flow, mellow again with hand percussion and a variety of string sounds and rhythmic nuances. It’s more than just an instrumental transition piece, but no question it and the penultimate “The Tarot Will Teach You,” also sans vocals, were placed to offset “Chamundaye,” the centerpiece “Shiva’s Grace” and the closing “Garland of Names” that brings the ceremony to a rousing conclusion in calling out various deities, among them Krishna, Rama, Shiva, Vishnu, Buddha, Jesus, in succession. “The Tarot Will Teach You” is shorter and more directly keyboardian feeling, but the tabla and jangling bells provide organic movement beneath.

The big question here, as regards Your Soul is the Holy Sound and Soma more generally, is whether we’re talking about cultural appreciation or appropriation, because even if these guys have been on this track of influence since the krishna-core days of NJ’s 1990s punker underground, to look at the basic superficial optics, you’ve still got a bunch of dudes from Jersey playing traditional music from half a world away, under assumed names. There’s no getting away from that, obviously, and Soma‘s methodology deals with it through the deep respect for the source material. This isn’t Elvis Presley taking the music Black people were making in the South and making it palatable for white folks. It’s a celebration of form.

If you’ve ever read up on the Hare Krishna movement or anything like that, you know the goal is to curry favor from the gods basically by calling them out and saying their name over and over again. I have no religion and no gods, period, but I do find the idea charming of being able to basically nag one’s creator-figureheads into doing what you want them to do, and I think anyone who’s ever been a parent asked the same question 50 times in a two-minute span can appreciate the image as well. Kirtan is a part of this, and in “Chamundaye,” “Shiva’s Grace” and “Garland of Names,” and even in the drones and flow of the instrumentals, Soma bring these songs to life in a way that bleeds love.

Its not always a soothing listen, and it’s not supposed to be. The idea is to get your blood moving, to get you excited, to get the gods excited, and then I think everybody just parties and things are cool until someone comes along and is like, “Yeah my god is named Sassafras” and then war has to happen forever or somesuch. The net-negative cultural effect of religiousness notwithstanding — though that’s a big ‘un to put aside — Soma seek spiritual enrichment through time-tested means and find ways to make traditionalist sounds their own without cheapening the presence of history in the material or giving up raw sonic impact. It is a work of outreach such that nearly every second doubles as an invitation to the one hearing it: “Come. Be a part of this with us.”

SOMA, Your Soul is the Holy Sound (2025)

SOMA on Bandcamp

SOMA on Facebook

SOMA on Instagram

Samaritan Press website

Samaritan Press on Instagram

Samaritan Press on Facebook

It is a little known fact outside of the region and the culture, but the place where I grew up and now reside, Parsippany, New Jersey, is an epicenter of South Asian immigration. At this point, multiple generations of immigrants from all over the Indian subcontinent have made their home here, and form an essential part of the community. The town celebrates Diwaali. There are badass Indian grocery stores all the way down Rt. 46 to Lake Hiawatha, and because it’s still Northern New Jersey, you might find a spot offering tandoori chicken pizza, representative in some way of the American dream of cultural meld as well as the country’s need to turn every food into an unhealthier version of itself.

I’m not sure where SOMA are from in my beloved Garden State — which has its flaws and corruptions like most places but is my home — but it makes sense to me somehow that a bunch of guys from punk and metal roots might end up exploring traditional Indian devotional music in their psychedelia. Following behind 2022’s Shiva/Shakti, the upcoming Burning is Learning is their second album. It was recorded by Monster Magnet‘s Phil Caivano, mastered by John McBain, and will be released through Centripetal Force on March 19 like the headline says. The first single from the album is “Shivranjani,” and the scale for which it’s named indeed comes from Hindustani classical music, about which I’ll tell you outright that, despite living in an enclave, I’m almost entirely ignorant. That’s what I get for going to school in the next town over.

The PR wire brings words and sounds. Dig in:

SOMA’s “Shivranjani” releases February 15, 2024

Centripetal Force announces the release of SOMA’s “Shivranjani,” the first track released from the forthcoming album Burning is Learning, a collection of sacred hymns, spellbinding dirges, and a little bit of mystical meandering.

According to the band, “Contained within ‘Shivranjani’ are notes reflecting that Bliss, an existence without concept or form. It is performed in honor of the unblemished consciousness of Infinite Goodness, the most Terrible, and the most Benevolent. It is a song offered to whom is born every day, yet has never been created nor destroyed.”

Burning is Learning is being presented in a 200 copy vinyl pressing. The album will also be available digitally. The release date for Burning is Learning is March 19, 2024.

A limited number of vinyl preorders will include artist prints of both the front and back covers, as painted by Robert Ryan (front cover) and Kevin Craig (back cover).

SOMA (Sacred Order of Mystic Apogees) is a group of multi-instrumentalists from New Jersey with deep roots in the DIY hardcore punk and heavy metal scenes of the area. They consider their music to be eclectic and sacred, with much of their musical approach grounded in traditions most associated with Pakistan and India. Burning is Learning is their second album.

Preorders for the vinyl digital, will go live at midnight (Eastern Standard Time) on February 15th.

https://www.facebook.com/somakirtan/
https://www.instagram.com/soma_kirtan/
https://somakirtan.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/centripetalforcerecords
https://www.instagram.com/centripetalforcerecords/
https://www.centripetalforcerecords.com/

SOMA, Burning is Learning (2024)

SOMA, “Om Namo Bhagavate Ramakrishnaya” Live in New York

After making their Relapse debut earlier this year with the Reflection of the Negative split with fellow Richmond, Virginia, natives Cough, ultra-doomed five-piece Windhand unleashed Soma (review here), their sophomore full-length behind a 2012 self-titled (streamed here). At 75 minutes long, it’s a formidable undertaking before you even get to the dark sensibilities the band proffers throughout in songs like “Woodbine,” the sprawling “Cassock” or half-hour-long closer “Boleskine,” varying in intensity and tension while toying with a grueling pace throughout, expanding beyond the relatively straightforward riff-led approach of the first album and into atmospherics that make Soma all the more individualized.

Windhand toured heavily for the first LP, which was released on Forcefield Records, and seem already to be keeping the ethic intact in support of Soma. Already they spent September into early October going coast-to-coast on a full US tour. Tonight, Nov. 1, they begin a run of dates in Europe alongside Pilgrim that will go for more than three weeks, and upon their return to the States, they’ll pick up five days later and do the West Coast and Canada along with Kvelertak and High on Fire. Both runs are a continuation of the momentum Windhand has established through consistent road-time, and the new album seems certain to receive its due as well. Here are the tour dates:

Windhand
with Pilgrim
01/11 BE Ghent Charlatan
02/11 NL Venlo Mudfest
03/11 FR Paris t.b.a.
04/11 UK Birmingham Asylum
05/11 UK Manchester Star & Garter
06/11 UK London Our Black Heart
08/11 ES Barcelona Rocksound
09/11 ES Madrid Rock & Pop
10/11 ES Bilbao Sentinel Rock Bar
11/11 FR Bordeaux Heretic Club
12/11 FR Paris Le Club
14/11 NL Tilburg Little Devil
15/11 DK Aalborg 1000 Fryd
16/11 SE Gothenburg Truckstop Alaska
17/11 DK Copenhagen KB18
18/11 DE Hamburg Rote Flora
19/11 DE Berlin Cassiopeia
20/11 DE Leipzig Zoro
21/11 AT Wien Vrena
22/11 DE Günzburg Donaustüble
23/11 DE Köln MTC
24/11 NL Amsterdam Occii

Windhand
with High on Fire and Kvelertak
11/29 Lawrence, KS Granada Theatre
11/30 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
12/02 Winnipeg, MB West End Cultural Center
12/04 Edmonton, AB Starlite Room
12/05 Calgary, AB Republik
12/07 Vancouver, BC Venue Vancouver
12/08 Seattle, WA El Corazon
12/09 Portland, OR Hawthorne Theater
12/11 San Francisco, CA Regency Center Grand Ballroom
12/12 Los Angeles, CA El Rey Theatre

As they’ve already been confirmed for Roadburn 2014 and the next installment of Heavy Days in Doomtown, you can expect much more to come on Windhand. The band is comprised of vocalist Dorthia Cottrell, guitarist/recording engineer Garrett Morris, guitarist Asechaiah Bogdan, bassist Parker Chandler (also of Cough) and drummer Ryan Wolfe. Cottrell recently took some time out to talk about the making of Soma and how their road ethic came into play in terms of putting the album together, plus the European dates — it’s their first time out of the country — prospects for 2014 and much more.

Q&A is after the jump. Please enjoy.

Read more »

I imagine that somewhere on the outskirts of Richmond, Virginia, a lone technician sits in a room with an impossible array of gauges, measuring tectonic pressure, general atmospheric conditions, etc., only to have the emergency lights kick on an unspeakable siren of chaos every time Windhand plugs in to rehearse. Call it “tone overload.” Our poor technician — who went to college for this, mind you, and is a skilled professional — gradually loses his or her mind, quits the job, and spends all remaining days wandering RVA, trying to find the source of that maddening rumble. Thus another existence destroyed by the ascendant dual-guitar five-piece, who made their debut on Relapse Records earlier this year with the Reflection of the Negative split with Richmond countrymen Cough, whose bass player, Parker Chandler, they also share. Windhand‘s full-length Relapse debut — their second album overall following a 2011 self-titled on Forcefield Records (streamed here) and a not-inconsiderable amount of touring — has been dubbed Soma, the drink of the gods. It’s a title Windhand share the most recent My Sleeping Karma LP, though the two bands have really nothing in common, as Windhand push forth low-end mud at a horrifying, lung-filling rate from Chandler‘s bass and the steady riff and lead interplay of guitarists Asechiah Bogdan and Garrett Morris, march to a wash of crash and stomp from drummer Ryan Wolfe (The Might Could, ex-Facedowninshit) and top with the ethereal vocals of Dorthia Cottrell, giving Soma a bleak, otherworldly sensibility to go along with its unbridled heft. If it’s the drink of the gods, the beverage is opaque. Clocking in at a full 75 minutes with six tracks and closing with the monster “Boleskine” that comprises just over half an hour on its own, Windhand‘s sophomore outing is dense even beyond the levels shows on the self-titled and fuller-sounding, bigger and more crushing. Early cuts “Orchard” and “Woodbine” establish the nod that the fivesome will carry through the next hour-plus, the opener in particular — also the shortest cut at 6:38 — harkening to some of the Electric Wizard influence that showed up last time out in the guitar work, but giving clear indication that Windhand‘s road time has helped them figure out who they are and who they want to be as a band.

To say Soma crushes doesn’t really do it full justice. It is impeccably mixed to maximize murk — a dense fog begins with “Orchard” and is consistent throughout. Cottrell‘s vocals and Wolfe‘s drums reside deep within the overbearing thrust of guitar and bass, lending the songs an even larger sound, and especially considering it was self-recorded and self-mixed (Morris also helmed the self-titled), the atmospheric bludgeon that Soma carries portrays Windhand as all the more cohesive in its styilstic take. They know what they’re doing, in other words. The riffs of “Orchard” proffer malevolent swirl and Cottrell sings through the churning progression, but there’s a structure to the song as well, a verse and a chorus trading off, as hard as they might be to discern initially, and the ringing feedback that caps the opener crashes directly into the similarly drugged-out “Woodbine.” Both the drums and the vocals seem more forward here, as though they’ve stepped up to meet the more insistent riff, and though by most standards it’s hardly a thrasher, in comparison to “Orchard” and the penultimate “Cassock” still to come, “Woodbine” moves at as quick a pace as Windhand show on Soma. Of course, the guitars and bass are so thick that even as it moves forward quickly, it still sounds slow. A memorable melody line through the vocals and guitars make “Woodbine” something of a landmark in terms of the album overall, but with a record that makes so plain its intent to swallow the listener whole and keep them for the duration, any landmark is only going to be so helpful. The idea is you lose yourself in it and are more subject to the overall impression than any particular standout, and that makes the album an even more satisfying front-to-back listen, though a “hook” for lack of a better word is certainly appreciated as well. Following a big slowdown as “Woodbine” hits the seven-minute mark and collapses to its finish, one gets no such mercies from the subsequent “Feral Bones,” which lets up some on the tempo and finds the vocals receding to deep under the tonequake, ghostly in echo but still definitely a presence. Peppered by regular crashes, “Feral Bones” is Windhand sounding the most their own as they have yet on the album. It doesn’t have the immediate familiarity of “Orchard,” but that’s also what makes it exciting. A striding lead takes hold near the halfway point, but the riff is maintained and soon returns to its prominent place, a last verse and chorus returning to round out the eight-minute track with more deceptive structuring.

Read more »

From reuniting formative psychedelic wanderers to supporting up and coming genre-crossers. Last week, Loop was revealed as the headliner for Roadburn 2014, and today it’s been announced that Relapse Records upstarts Inter Arma and Windhand will both take part. Both bands make their home in the fertile dirt of Richmond, Virginia, so I’m left wondering if maybe a Euro tour with the two acts is in the offing?

Time will tell on that. Until then, and in related news, it was also announced today that Windhand‘s full-length Relapse debut, Soma, will be released Sept. 17. More on that here, and you can find the album trailer below:

INTER ARMA And WINDHAND Confirmed For Roadburn Festival 2014

Following last week’s announcement of Loop as the main headliner for Roadburn 2014, the festival is excited to report that Relapse Records artists WINDHAND and INTER ARMA have also been confirmed for next years event, set for April10 ? 13, 2014 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, the Netherlands.

Walter Hoeijmakers from Roadburn: “Windhand’s S/T was definitely THEE psych/doom album of 2012, while anticipation of the band’s upcoming album on Relapse is reaching a crescendo that will continue to build throughout the year and culminate in their main stage set on Saturday, April 12 at Roadburn 2014. Inter Arma’s “Sky Burial” is a serious contender for this year’s Roadburn Festival-related album of the year. Both Windhand and Inter Arma seem poised to rank among the regal line of iconic Relapse bands, and Roadburn is proud to welcome both bands on Saturday, April 12 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.”

Richmond, Virginia’s WINDHAND cut their teeth worshipping at Iommi’s school of a thousand riffs, fusing classic churning doom as smooth as melted chocolate with Electric Wizard-ish bong-cloud obscured psychedelia. Sparking your natural highness, the band locks into a mesmerizing sprawl of epic, doomic heaviness, a trancelike reverence that inspires lethargic, hypnotic head banging and is embellished with enough hazy psych to be a tripped-out soundtrack for some obscure war on drugs propaganda film. Meanwhile, vocalist Dorthia Cottrell’s hellish howl beckons from the distance, swathed in distortion, transcending any earthly ideas of gender, and positioning the band firmly at the top of the pile of the current crop of female fronted metal outfits.

Windhand will release “Soma”, their 2nd album on Relapse Records on September 13 in the Benelux, GAS and Finland and on September 16 in the UK and Europe. The album was recorded & mixed by the band’s own Garrett Morris at The Darkroom & mastered by James Plotkin, in their hometown of Richmond, VA.

Also emerging (like Windhand) from the seemingly ever-fertile metal breeding grounds of Richmond, Virginia, INTER ARMA sports a sound that’s difficult to pin down, as it continually changes and surprises with each passing album track. “Sky Burial” starts with a strong dose of the industrial infused black metal of “Volcano”-era Satyricon, then takes a decidedly Pink Floydian left turn for the next two tracks (the first is acoustic and the second of which culminates in an unexpectedly raucous blast of Cascadian black metal). They then introduce truly hellish sounding occult doom followed by caustic, repetitive noise rock in the vein of Unsane. They continue with epic, abrasive, majestic doom with vintage Gibby Haynes-style menacing vocals into another foreboding acoustic track and cap the album off with the title track, a noisy, doomy, mathy, blackened rock and roll experience that is rippling with evil and menace. Their live set will be a constantly evolving, emotionally devastating experience that is sure to leave us all uncomfortably numb.

www.facebook.com/WindhandVA
windhandva.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/INTERARMA
interarma.bandcamp.com

Windhand, Soma album trailer

Unsurprisingly, the My Sleeping Karma 20-minute tour documentary My Sleeping Karma: A Tour Video really makes me want to see My Sleeping Karma. Maybe that’s not fair, since I wanted to see the German heavy psych instrumentalists already, but let’s just say that after watching the footage chronicling their tour last fall supporting Monster Magnet — also supporting their fourth album, Soma (review here), which was their first for Napalm Records — my wanting to see them hasn’t diminished. Quite the contrary.

Maybe one of these days they’ll come to the States or I’ll be lucky enough to get back to Europe at a time when we can cross paths, but in the meantime, My Sleeping Karma: A Tour Video — compiled and edited by Tim Bohnenstingl of StonerRock.eu — does an excellent job of conveying the atmosphere on the road with the band and what they’re able to deliver in a live setting, which looks to be plenty.

Check out the full documentary below, followed by some more info on its creation, courtesy of Bohnenstingl himself:

My Sleeping Karma: A Tour Video

This 20 minute tour documentary was filmed over six days on tour, following My Sleeping Karma non stop. Hamburg, Paris, London, Manchester, Stuttgart. It focuses on the live shows, but also allows the audience to experience one day of a normal band on the road : Driving long distances, soundchecks, press interviews, photoshootings, load outs, jamming and just being yourself. All this is combined with interviews by the band commenting on the tour life and the “Flow” which My Sleeping Karma are kind of famous for in the underground scene.

“It was not only a pleasure and honour to be on tour with Monster Magnet, the band which brought me to the so called Stoner Rock, but much more so: My Sleeping Karma, one of the bands which still keeps me so interested in this flourishing genre. I had a lot of fun with the nicest people, I hope you will too while watching the movie.”. Tim, stonerrock.eu

In the six years since their self-titled debut appeared on Elektrohasch, German heavy psych foursome My Sleeping Karma have ascended to one of the most singular approaches in the European scene. Their sound is synth-laden but often quiet and minimal, jam-based but structured, crisply toned but warm, technically intricate but never showy, and the richness in their instrumental approach has only grown as their material has gotten more complex.

Their last album, 2010’s Tri (review here), reached a level of development that the self-titled and its 2008 follow-up, Satya (review here), had only hinted toward, and having found a new home on the rising tide of Napalm Records‘ affiliation with the heavy underground, My Sleeping Karma answer the next-levelisms of Tri with Soma, a full-length the otherworldliness of which is writ large across its concept. The title refers to the Hindu drink of the gods, and each song is an ingredient, the mystical parts uniting toward one greater whole. In the best case scenario, this happens anyway with an album, but the flow My Sleeping Karma — Seppi on guitar, Steffen on drums, Matte on bass, Norman on keys — craft across these tracks is all the more appropriately presented in liquid form. There is a grace in their psychedelia that few bands can boast.

Today I have the pleasure of hosting “Ephedra,” the second ingredient, for your streaming pleasure. The song stands among the most effective of Soma‘s linear builds, which are offset by companion interludes no less gorgeous or lush than anything surrounding. My Sleeping Karma, fresh off performances at both the Yellowstock and Aquamaria festivals, have included more info on the album’s themes below — along with release info and well-sourced arguments in its favor — but whether or not you indulge in Soma‘s conceptual aspects, the lushness of “Ephedra” speaks for itself. I hope you enjoy:

[mp3player width=460 height=150 config=fmp_jw_widget_config.xml playlist=my-sleeping-karma.xml]

MY SLEEPING KARMA have already achieved an considerable status in the music scene by releasing superb albums and playing incredible live shows. The fourth album “Soma” follows the band’s own individualistic and atmospheric path towards enlightenment. Following the meaning of the album title (“Soma” is the intoxicating drink of the gods), the instrumental Psychedelic Groove Rock of the German quartet enhances the consciousness in a truly hypnotic and bewitching manner. The multilayered compositions move skilfully between heavy rock riffs and enchanting melodic parts with a high level of calmness and beauty. “Soma” is visually complimented by Sebastian Jerke’s artwork that is filled with astonishing details and beauty.  “Soma” offers the perfect movie soundtrack to everybody’s own inner journey. Just be warned, you may never want to leave again!