Somnia Vera - Fear of Wishing

 Released: May 28

Fear of Wishing is a deep and slow-simmering album that is centered in a harsh noise aesthetic but with wide variety of accompanying textures. Some of the tracks are a bit more intense than others in terms of raw levels, by there is a psychological horror type of angle that can be heard sprinkled throughout the album. “Loathing” is a good example of this dynamic at work since it possesses all of the raw and unbridled scathing noise energy but also contains these uncanny moments of calm clarity that is ruined by what sounds like a canned studio audience. There’s a weird feeling that arises here, like someone finally has their shot on the stage and it devolves into some kind of voyeuristic bad dream. It’s visceral and unsettling, but draws you in nonetheless. 

There’s a few pieces on here that have a more tonal quality to them, although it is certainly not anywhere close to melodic. But “Lobster Trick” opens up with an eerie tone that carries through most of the track as snarls and peals of static noise begin tot rise and fall around it. The interplay between the two seems to bend the tone to the will of the noise, stretching it and warping it into a virtual wall of noise by the very end. 

The album hovers in the low end for much of its runtime with droning bass frequencies that feel heavy and oppressive at times, like standing in the midday sunlight as the temperature and humidity rise. While the sounds aren’t particularly aggressive when compared to other noise works, it does have a sense of persistence. The heaviness of the low ends feel like an anchor holding down the higher frequency pieces, which vary from scratchy peals of static to a chipping kind of sound that slowly grinds away at the otherwise empty space. Then there’s those seemingly random pieces of environmental sounds that paint thr tracks containing them in an even more unsettling light. It’s a rather peculiar, although quite dark and heavy, adventure in sculpted noise.