Release Date May 22nd, 2026
Format LP/CD/Digital
Genre Heavy Metal
Origin California, USA
Sönus is a California-based heavy metal outfit centered around multi-instrumentalist and vocalist David Wachsman. The band broke through with their 2022 release "Usurper Of The Universe," which topped the Doom Charts and established them as a force rooted in the classic metal tradition. The current lineup includes Dave Reno on bass and Colin Jaramillo on drums, with additional contributions from Mike Gorman on rhythm guitar. "Planes Of Torment" is their most ambitious work to date, recorded live in the studio at Reed's Recordings in Campbell, CA.
"Planes Of Torment" is a seven-track album clocking in at just over 44 minutes, and it earns every one of them the hard way. Sönus are not interested in subtlety. This is meat-and-bones heavy metal drawn from the AC/DC, Motörhead, and Judas Priest school, raw, unprocessed, and recorded live to tape the way it should be. The production by Adam Reed captures a band playing in the same room, bleeding into each other's amps, and that's the right call. Dave Reno's mix at Fuzzy Wizard Studios keeps it honest. Matt "Mojo" Denton's mastering doesn't over-squeeze the life out of it. Technical decisions aside, the material itself is what matters, and here the results are mixed in the best possible way.
"Sisyphus Stomp" is the obvious centerpiece of the first half, a bulldozer built on mythology and modern frustration that rolls over everything in its path. "Pagan Woman" opens the record with attitude to spare, and
"Scorpio," at nearly ten minutes and featuring Will Harper's flute woven into the arrangement, is the kind of risk that could go sideways fast. It doesn't. The title track closes everything out at over ten and a half minutes, and Wachsman knows how to work the long format without padding. The cover of The Cult's "Phoenix" is a curveball, Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy's song sits comfortably enough in the record's aesthetic, though it also exposes the gap between classic songwriting and what Sönus are still developing on their own.
That development is where the album's ceiling sits. Wachsman is a compelling presence, his guitar work is genuine, his lyrics hit with real-world anger and personal scars, and the band plays with the kind of unity that only comes from having something to prove. But a couple of tracks in the middle lose momentum, and the emotional arc the album is reaching for doesn't always land with the same force as the best moments. "Heart Of Stone" and "Saturation Diver" do their job, nothing more. When Sönus are firing, they're genuinely impressive. When they're coasting, the cracks show.
Still, "Planes Of Torment" is a legitimate statement from a band refusing to take shortcuts. Wachsman went through real hell getting this record made, injuries, losses, financial ruin, and you can hear it in the performances. This is not a calculated product. It's blood metal, in the most honest sense of the phrase. Seven songs, no filler philosophy, occasional stumbles, and enough raw quality to make you want to see what they do next.
|7.5
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