Ferocious. Fantastical. Fuckin’ awesome. These are just some of the phrases that would accurately describe New Jersey’s Solace and, more importantly, their latest full-length from Blues Funeral Recordings.
But I digress.
From the moment “Breaker Of The Way” kicks things of on Solace’s fourth long player, The Brink, longtime fans will know they’re in for a treat while first time discoverers of the band will only get a tip of the proverbial Rawk iceberg that’s on a collision course with their earholes.
Touching on “Breaker…” again, it’s such a rollicking way to start off the album as this eight plus minute opus descends with a psychedelic groove before launching into a blistering tirade that’ll have you on your feet and headbanging while miming along in air guitar glee. “Desert Coffin” starts with a huge Sabbathian riff wall from Tommy Southard and Justin Daniels while “Dead Sailor’s Dream” comes out of a feedback-soaked haze into a glorious Psych-filled mania and features one of the coolest vocal cadences along this sonic journey from vocalist Goins. And yes, you read that right. The singer of Solace is named Goins. If you weren’t already enraptured by this quintet, you bet your ass you are now.
“Waste People” is crunchy and hard and brimming with Doom as Goins shouts off a slew of determined marching orders leading towards “The Light Is A Lie” which houses a punishing pile of riffs accented by these organ flourishes that elevate the track from a simple Rawker into something much more. And just when you think it can’t get any better, the ditty goes into a blistering breakdown with the same intensity that Black Sabbath brought on their very first opening song with Mike Sica’s bass-inducing tremors making way for some shreddy solo’s.
“Crushing Black” cruises in like something off of Sky Valley with an inherent groove from drummer Timmy Gitlan and later, “Bird of Ill Omen” is just monolithical (Not a word but honestly, no word properly describes the wall of sound from Southard and Daniels here so one needed to be made up) while Goins croons above it all. The title track is another solid slab of shred and then “Until The Last Dog Is Hung” saunters in like jam central and the sound of a unit performing at their absolute best.
But it doesn’t stop there! With “Dead Sailor’s Reprise” concluding it all up in a fittingly raucous way, Solace present a proper reprise (Not enough artists do these anymore) that works separate from the original and is a proper banger of an album ender which remains unrelenting when it comes to the barrage of riffage for six minutes and change.
The Brink releases on December 13th through Blues Funeral Recordings. Pre-orders are live now and can be purchased by clicking here. For the latest on Soalce, including upcoming live performances, follow them on the socials by clicking here.