Just below its petrified experimental shell is a groove that simply obliterates sound space and captures these ears once again.
An emphasis on busted, broken, and blistered sound design scorches bass bins from miles away
Perhaps the toughest trajectory we’ve heard from Somatic Responses, Return to Abnormal signals a focus on forward marching and hardened electronics. All tracks (this time around) by Paul Healy, an emphasis on busted, broken, and blistered sound design scorches bass bins from miles away and doesn’t let up. Such an influx of sonic activity, fractured acid, breaks, and industrial sandblasting simply doesn’t find any room to breath (except on “Enter the Panic Room” and the squelchy synths of “R3b00ted”). A drum smashed plethora merged with volcanic ambient noises, complex rhythms are explored to the fullest extent—all within 53 minutes of utter collective confusion and like a locomotive barreling down the tracks. It’s this rugged smorgasbord of dislodged electronic mayhem that sets the stage on Return to Abnormal. And yet buried just below its petrified experimental shell is a groove that simply obliterates sound space and captures these ears once again. So, while we’re all trying to “return to normal,” it’s understandable that Somatic Responses would flip this equation in their definitive audio assault.
Return to Abnormal is available on Bandcamp.
