Band:	Somali Yacht Club
Album:	The Sea
Style:	Stoner metal
Release date:	February 2018

01. Vero
02. Religion Of Man
03. Blood Leaves A Trail
04. Hydrophobia
05. 84 Days
06. Crows

Across the stoner metal spectrum, one can encounter a variety of tones; crushing heaviness (Sleep), lush, fuzzy tranquillity (Weedpecker), energetic drive (Herder, Droids Attack), or proggy adventure (Elder, Samsara Blues Experiment). However, at least in this reviewer's experience, there's not been much introspective melancholy to be found in the genre. By combining stoner metal with post-rock, shoegaze, alternative, and prog amongst other elements, Somali Yacht Club prove themselves to be a broadly successful departure from this trend.

The tone is definitively subdued throughout The Sea, with extensive opener "Vero" instantly setting the mood for the near-hour of music to follow. Opening with a bouncy post-rock riff, it slowly blends into distortion and morphs through mellow post-rock landscapes for several minutes before the first vocals appear. The vocal approach on this album also departs from the typical hazy croons or foggy yells of most stoner rock albums, instead operating with a cleaner, softer, more emotional sound closer to alternative metal bands such as Eden Circus. After an 11-minute slow-burn of gradually layered atmosphere built around mellow post-rock and stoner rock riffs, "Vero" gives way to the equally lengthy "Religion Of Man", another spacious, downbeat post-rock-dominated journey that slowly marches via stretches of heavy, trudging doom riffs onto a slick stoner bass groove and, finally, an uncharacteristically lively extended guitar solo section. After that, the music gets more diverse, with distinct elements exhibiting greater prominence on the different songs.

So, after dwelling for so long on how the album sounds, it's probably time to discuss whether it's worth listening to. On the whole, I would definitely say yes; it's a relatively distinctive sounding album that generally nails the vibe it is gunning for, and is consistently enjoyable throughout. However, I do wonder what it means for the more 'adventurous', for lack of a better word, parts of the album when my favourite moments are the more typically 'stoner metal' parts, such as the aforementioned latter half of "Religion Of Man", the psychedelic jam vibe and closing pummelling riffs of "Hydrophobia", and the sonic maelstrom of "84 Days". The post-rock-inspired crescendos are generally well-measured but there are certain moments where I feel it can tend to drag on. And finally, whilst I think the album is pleasant throughout, I struggle to remember many moments of real captivation to lift it up to that level of true 'greatness'.

Like groups such as Sunnata, Somali Yacht Club offer up a fresh spin on a rich but well-explored genre, and in doing so deliver one of the early highlights of 2018. The Sea takes the listener on a subdued, dynamic, sonically rich journey (the production does a fine job of allowing all instruments to shine through the mix and preserving the intended feel of the music), and in doing so conveys a real sense of contemplation and emotion. If they continue to build on this success, Somali Yacht Club could be onto something special here.