Soma shows all the signs of an attempted slow metal classic: On their second album and first for Relapse, Richmond, Va., quintet Windhand coughs up three low-tempo burners, follows them with a foreboding acoustic creak, and aims to end with its longest and strongest-- a 14-minute rumbling insurgency called “Cassock” and the 31-minute astro fade “Boleskin”. The record spotlights every asset of the band, too. The dual guitars are enormous, with the tube-amp tones delivering the riffs in massive waves and presenting the solos less as interruptions and more as big, breaking-news events. The rhythm section is relentless; swollen bass pushes between every deep groove, underlined and emphasized by ubiquitous cymbal splatter. And the voice of Dorthia Cottrell-- Windhand’s lugubrious and bewitching frontwoman-- hangs above it all, her dark-minded tunes settling over the monolithic music like a dense, mountainous fog. Her haunting turn as a solo singer-songwriter serves as the record’s surprising centerpiece. It’s a quiet coup within an otherwise very loud and insistent marathon.