Track By Tracks: SÖNUS - Planes Of Torment (2026)

1. Pagan Woman:

This is pretty much the most blatant breakup song on the album, and it’s about my ex, who was a witch. The theme of going to seed referred to a hope that we could one day meet again after overcoming the obstacles that had split us apart in the first place and live happily ever after. It’s also pretty clear about where I was at that time, which is to say, depressed and completely delusional, haha. I think it’s probably the best song I’ve ever written in terms of just writing and structure, and it just fell into place so naturally. A no-brainer for the lead single off the album. The riffs came from a jam session with Colin before the full band was even assembled.

2. Heart Of Stone:

I wrote this in a few minutes while I was messing around with my amp in my garage right after the breakup. This one is definitely the anger stage of grief in full force. It’s a very hard thing to go from living with the person you love, cuddling them at night, waking up to their beautiful face being the first thing you see every morning, to then being completely alone with a raw and broken heart. This song is also about coming to terms with the notion of moving on- how can I move on from this? What do I have to give anyone else right now? Anyway, therapy helps.

3. Saturation Diver:

This was one I also wrote in a few minutes (though it took the longest to finish the structure out of all the songs). What started as a fascination with a dangerous job that had a cool ring to it quickly turned into an examination of my own loneliness and self-isolation, and trying to remember how to be who I was before the relationship (which lasted nearly a decade), and then realizing I was a completely different person and could only move forward. That and a little bit of Lovecraft all over a groovy, almost Deep Purple-inspired riff.

4. Sisyphus Stomp:

This is the one to pull you out of the tendrils of despair. Every day was a slog, but I just had to keep pushing through it- the only way out is through. And if you have to push through, you need a badass song to pump you up while you do it. This is my take on that, a little AC/DC, simple rock and roll with a catchy chorus that then slows down and ramps up the intensity to a massive, big rock crescendo. It’s full-tilt fun, and I love playing this live.

5. Scorpio:

Originally about my ex, it’s also partially inspired by another hot witchy Scorpio I dated for a time after her (I do live a blessed life). It’s really a confession of love, of pain, and it’s the most epic part of this journey through it all, arriving at hope again at the end. The addition of Will Harper’s flutes elevates it to a mythical level. It flows by in such a way that people don’t feel like it’s a nearly 10-minute song. I’m really proud of my 3-minute guitar solo, which was taken from an initial lightning-in-a-bottle jam session the day after a date with that other Scorpio. I strung all the cool licks together in an almost classical arrangement. This is without a doubt the sexiest song we’ve ever made, and the reaction from women when we play it live seems to confirm that. I’d be honored to know if anyone puts it on their sex playlist. Please write in!

6. Phoenix:

This is the first cover we’ve ever had on an album, and it just seemed so fitting for not only this album, but to directly follow Scorpio. There’s a line in Scorpio, “soaring over burning suns, a phoenix from a scorpion, one day I will rise again, for a love that has no end,” and it naturally made me think of this song after I wrote it. I love The Cult, and this version was inspired by something Ian Astbury said before they played this song on the Live at Marquee London album: “We’re just punk rockers with long hair.” I kind of took that as inspiration and made a more streamlined/punk rock version of the song.

7. Planes of Torment:

The big bad title track- how to sum up Planes of Torment? It’s utter devastation and disillusionment, and ultimately about the destructive and renewing process that comes about in life and in the history of the world. The first verse references a spiritual destruction of illusion to free the mind from falsity. The second verse references the destruction we may come to face of our material world via climate change or World War III/ a nuclear apocalypse, destroying our planet, our civilizations, and everything we built over the many centuries humanity has struggled, fought, and died on the face of this planet. It’s through the voice of one with the impulse to destroy. The final section, where the song completely changes and reaches its epic finale, is about coming to terms with the cost of that destruction, with the cost of burning down your old life, with the pain, regret, and heartbreak that stays with you after something monumentally important to you has ended. A part of your life has ended. A part of your heart has died. Burnt in the pyre of renewal like a letter- the future and what comes from that point is unclear, but the pain of the present remains. And that’s what the album closes on. Again, therapy is very helpful.

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