SÖNUS – Planes Of Torment

by Mark 'Yeti' Richard · Published June 16, 2026 · Updated June 16, 2026

SÖNUS is a hard rocking stoner/ heavy psychedelic metal band from San Francisco, California. They consist of David Wachsman on lead & backing vocals, lead & rhythm guitars, synths, lyrics & arrangements, Dave Reno on bass & backing vocals, and Colin Jaramillo on drums & backing vocals. SÖNUS is the brainchild of David Wachsman, who wrote and recorded the early releases himself, including 2020’s Worlds Undreamed Of, 2022’s Usurper Of The Universe, and their latest, 2026’s Planes Of Torment. However, Planes Of Torment features a fully functioning band and was released on May 22nd 2026. It contains seven tracks at forty four minutes long.

“Pagan Woman” begins Planes Of Torment with a heroic dose of hard rock mixed with blues and southern rock, matched with emotive vocals. The song hits you just right and the hooks are derived from the simplicity of the riffs and rhythm section. The basic almost off-timed drum beat is a simple, yet effective approach to tweaking up their sound and keeping the music interesting and engaging. The catchy chorus of “Pagan Women” is a sure fire way to get the listener’s attention right from the start. Wachsman’s vocals sound great throughout this recording. He has a lot of soul and emotion in his voice that connects brilliantly with the music. His powerful riffs and guitar leads play out well with this album. “Heart Of Stone” begins with the low end and scratch riffing from the guitar that focuses on the deep vocals with their aggressive edges. The slow dooming blues song conjures sensations of grief and anger and emphasizes reckoning.

The third track entitled “Saturation Diver”, starts off with clean and mellow tones. The song breaks into a fuzzy rhythm of heavy psych and stoner grooves. Infectious guitar leads blended with vintage tones of overdrive gives the song its classic rock essence. Nothing too elaborate or fancy but the song has a cumulative flow and build up that serves until the end. “Sisyphus Stomp” begins with bass and a couple of cymbal taps. The almost garage rock sounding riffs and the uncomplicated drumming make room for the electrifying leads and vocals to command the sound forward. Midway through, SÖNUS shifts gears with a bass break that surmounts into an exuberant acid rocking jam session. It’s hard to deny the hard rock seventies influences but the band takes things up a notch creatively on the track “Scorpio”. The smooth and eerie sounding passage features some excellent flute playing courtesy of Will Harper. The song peaks at nearly ten minutes, the second longest track on Planes Of Torment. The song travels through atmospheric and psychedelic territory and expands the sonic reach that the band delivers.

The next track called “Phoenix” is a cover song from the band The Cult. The song was originally featured on their 1985 album Love. SÖNUS does a great job representing this track and making it sound like one of their own. It lands before the last cut, the title track “Planes Of Torment”. The longest song, clearing ten and a half minutes, “Planes Of Torment” is a crusher! Combining classic hard rock with stoner doom, the song is direct and dynamic. The conviction of the lyrics “Burn, burn, burn, burn it all down!” will echo in your head for hours afterwards. It’s an excellent closer that feels much shorter than the actual runtime. These seven songs are all terrific and SÖNUS is definitely a band that I will be keeping an eye on in the future. Planes Of Torment should appeal to anyone into hard rock with a twist of the heavy seventies attached to their wonderful sound.