SOMNENT is a doom band based in Florida who formed in 2015.  It is actually a one man project by "Giovanni A. Vigliotti. "Gardens From Graves," is his second full length album but has also released an EP. Florida might be known for its heat and sunshine but that is lost on SOMNENT who released a solid death/doom album for their 2017 debut "Sojurn." For "Gardens From Graves," Giovanni has scaled back on much of the death part of the doom. This album features a lot of cleaner tones and acoustics and greater emphasis on clean vocals. Doom is is all about sorrow and melancholy--using a more stripped down sound for this second effort doesn't result in a loss of either element.

The opening track "Silhouette," is all acoustic and clean tones but it nails down that depressive and oppressive atmosphere.  The composition of the clean instruments is interesting with plenty of depth and reason to go back for multiple listens. Giovanni's cleans are low and have just enough grit to give the song a bit of solidness. The chorus is both emotional and catchy. "Acquiescence" is more like the debut album, complete with death growls. With that being said, clean guitar mixes with the distortion so it continues the feel of the opening track. The light and dark elements Intertwine well and the sound is warm yet cold as a grave. The song is simple but features layers of music that continue to unfold as I listen.

The title track is perhaps the most somber here. It unwinds steadily but slowly using a similar sound from "Acquiescence," in that the music elements interplay together in the same way, with the death growls accompanying them. The last minute and a half is particularly interesting with a morose melody running through the guitar while the death growls give it all a funeral dirge feel. Some of the songs don't work quite as well. "Fragments" is a decent track but it feels like it is building up to something but whatever that is never really arrives. It connects with the title track but still feels like it needed another minute or two added to it.

"Blackened Heart" kind of has a folky, singer songwriter feel to it and it picks up some heavier elements on the back end up this track is weak as a whole and the only one I really didn't care for. SOMNENT's "Gardens From Graves" may lack the intensity of their debut but that doesn't make it any less effective or emotional.  While I hope their next album includes more elements from their debut, this release is worthy and doom fans need to give it a chance to sink in.