Soma – If You See Me… (Let Me Be)

About a year ago, I got myself a copy of this release among other items from Tim of Dingleberry Records. This particular vinyl is single-sided, with the other side featuring a gorgeous silk-screened artwork. I decided to give it a spin one day, and oh boy, this is some insanely good stuff. And nobody ever talked about this? Are you for real?! What are you even doing??

Soma was a screamo side project hailing from Penzance, UK, featuring members of other great acts such as Crows-An-Wra, Ravachol, Crocus, Goodtime Boys, We Came Out Like Tigers, No Omega, and many others. Formed initially as a project in 2020 during the Covid lockdown, it quickly evolved into a full band. They wrote and recorded their songs remotely in Cornwall, Norwich, and Berlin. It took them two years, and then they released their only output, If You See Me… (Let Me Be), mastered by the legendary Will Killingsworth of Dead Air Studios.

A sole scream grabs you in “Rising Tide” and pulls you into a whirlwind of beautifully desperate screamo. Urgent, dissonant riffs unravel in “Homesick” as the drums build up with piercing, shrieking vocals persisting throughout the song. Then things get intense when the blast beats come in “Wherever You May Tread,” followed by occasional spoken words and shouts lamenting the uncertainties of the future: “But why does living in the now seem like such a chore? / Always a step behind / Out of sight, out of mind / Money talks and heart breaks are a given.”

The intense, urgent atmosphere in their songwriting reminds me of many European bands—Nikad in particular. Then we step into La Quiete/Raein territory in “Constant Change” and “If You See Me,” where more melodic elements flourish through their compositions. And then comes their closer, “When The Bullet Hits,” where a slow build-up crescendos its way to confronting themes of mortality head-on, describing that “When the bullet hits, there’s nothing you can do,” implying the bitter fact that life can be violent and unpredictable, while also encouraging the listener to be resilient and recognize limitations.

With just eight tracks spanning sixteen minutes, Soma delivers some of the most energetic, passionate music in DIY punk. Though most of the songs are brief—about less than three minutes—they waste no time in depicting lyrical themes of existentialism, nature, mortality, and emotional resilience, all put together in a great, underrated DIY record.