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Arzgarth
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"Solace - The Black Black"
Solace - The Black Black
Review by John Pegoraro (StonerRock.com)
Underdogma Records (CD)/Land o Smiles (vinyl)
Release date: May 2007
This time last year, New Jersey's Solace had imploded. Their third full-length, A.D., was dead in the water and they were headed for the “coulda shoulda woulda” file, another obscure band that coulda shoulda woulda kicked the world in the ass had they not been too busy tripping over their own feet.
Then they were offered a slot on the Roadburn Festival and that one gig managed to reinvigorate the five-piece. A.D. has been dusted off, and while it's still not finished (making it our Chinese Democracy), the four new tracks on The Black Black offer nothing but good news for the band and for their fans.
If I had to describe The Black Black in a word, it would be one long girlish shriek of joy. The three originals - “Khan (World of Fire),” “Destroy the Gift,” and “The Devil's Clock” - and their cover of The Cure's “World War” deliver classic Solace and then some. The current line-up recorded only one other original, “Cement Stitches” from their split with Greatdayforup, and while a great song, it didn't fully capture what the band was capable of doing. Solace is a guitarist's band, and The Black Black is replete with riffs, harmonized solos, blistering solos, moody solos, solos that make the hairs on your arm stand up, and the type of solos that make your dog run around in circles, barking at nothing, but never to the point where they sacrifice actual songs. They've stepped up their songwriting in the years since 13, and the end result is an ugly, aggressive, and unique blend of rock, doom, and metal. Credit to that also needs to go to frontman Jason, whose use of both clean, melodic vocals and a fierce shriek adds considerable dynamics to the tracks (especially "The Devil's Clock").
Is this the best material Solace has written? Damn straight. Given the 33 minutes running time, it's debatable whether this will be Album of the Year or EP of the Year. Either way, this is highly recommended. Holy fucking hell, this rules.
URL: http://www.diedrunk.com/
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Baron
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Is there a street date for this biatch yet?
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Arzgarth
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All I know is that it should be available before they go to Europe.
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ismokealone
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spiritualleader
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I agree with Arz, this is the first time you can really hear what Justin and Kenny bring to the band. Solace should be very proud of this.
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whoshotthefrog
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when are they supposed to leave for Europe?
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Arzgarth
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Kevin
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robgara75
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Yep, Solace fans will definately not be disappointed with this.
The first song alone warrants a purchase.
NOW PLAYING: Solace - Khan
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Stickman
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A must have. The only question is whether Arzgarth's simmering homoerotic manlove for this band has somehow influenced his ability to o b j e c tively review this album.
My prediction, no matter the length, this will be in the top 3 of SR.com's best of 2007
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MadJohnShaft
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It could suck, but instead it's pretty good. I think everyone will be batshit CRAZEE for this EP once they get to purchase it.
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Arzgarth
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Very astute observation, Stickman. I probably should have mentioned, in the interest of full disclosure, that I typed that review with the raging boner The Black Black gave me.
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Stickman
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I always have a hard time typing when I have a raging boner - it makes the keyboard in my lap tilt left and right wildly. I end up with mucho typos; every time I try to capatalize I get a CTRL function error that leads inexplicably to pictures of DonG's nude minicock; and every keystroke makes me want to head over to Persiankitty.com or Bolthrow's photobucket account
Solace on the other hand confirms for me that stoner rock as a genre is alive and well, no matter how others want to categorize them, and that I am an unapologetic fan.
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Scrit
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It certainly will be among the top three or five for 2007. If there's a band that can do that with four songs only, it's Solace. I'm thrilled they decided to do this, ie, take four songs off A.D., package them as an EP, then fill that void on A.D. with yet more new songs and hopefully it will be out by late this year. That would be completely righteous to have TWO Solace albums in the top five for 2007, as both certainly would be...
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benhogg
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these guys are still a band?
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RichardBacker
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When the hell is this gonna be out? I'm fuckin' dying here!
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devil dick
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these guys are still a band?
No, we just play one on the interweb....
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JJB
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SugarLoaf
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Amazing record. We had to listen to it twice in a row, it was so damn good.
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spiritualleader
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