‘With passion, I lead with what makes me bleed, With pleasure, I let my heart beat, And with pain, I sit with my comfort, Even if it hurts, It only gets worse’ (Pain)

Soastasphrenas is derived from the Greek for ‘peace of mind’.  Berlin’s Soastasphrenas aim to deliver anything but, on this their follow-up to 2023’s Moirae.  This is abrasive, densely textured emoviolence, precariously balancing all the competing dynamics that this entails.  Unhinged chaos versus technical precision, whiplash tempo changes versus muscular grooves, discordant immersion versus fleeting melodic reflection.

The frequently layered vocals add to this claustrophobic unease as they sweep from harsh screams to disembodied whispers, by way of almost clean sung incantations.  Equally central to this almost overwhelming intensity, is the poem that is braided throughout the album.  The recitals of 150 people were recorded, layered over one another, and then played at different volumes to create a thoroughly unsettling feeling of voices constantly crowding out your own thoughts.

Conceptually, Eris (referencing the Greek goddess of strife and discord) is built around the emotional intersection of passion, pleasure, and pain. This examination provokes a pervasive sense of dread that no matter how bad things have got, the worst is still to come.  It is one that insidiously permeates throughout the album as it unfurls.  From the savage convulsions of This Is Not to the cathartic dissonance of Even If It Hurts, tracks bleed indiscriminately into one another, ensuring that there is not a moment’s respite from the visceral saturation.