Album Review: Solitary – Embrace The Darkness
Reviewed by Drew McCarthy
Solitary are one of the few bands that I have chosen to review that I have seen live and the band are back with a bang, in top form on their newest album 'Embrace The Darkness'.
The fifth full length by these thrashers from Preston starts off with a song dealing with a period of time that a lot of people would obviously want to forget, that is the Corona virus pandemic. Even though the song is incredibly powerful, and also catchy in parts, listening to it does inevitably take your mind back to a very unsettling time.
What these lads have managed to achieve on 'Embrace The Darkness' is astounding, in their relentless approach to thrash metal they have managed to single handedly tap into the very zeitgeist of society today. Confronting the problems in this modern world that we live in head on, not only just how obsessed people are with technology but also how degradation in society and how common decency has slowly rotted away. The fact that we live in an age of grief and horror where every day we come ever closer to being on the very brink of yet another World War.
This is a body of work that finds each individual member of the band operating at their very best, firing on all cylinders. From the relentless 'Settle Scores The Old Way' that overflows with impressive lead guitar work, to the classic barrage of muscular riffs and addictive, catchy melodies that make both 'Virtues' and 'Bury It Now' both incredibly memorable.
'Embrace the Darkness' is another belter of an album which has that old school thrash vibe to it. The clean vocals remind me of Chuck Billy from Testament and the musicianship that Solitary have put on display is some of the best that I have heard from any thrash band in recent times. This is an album that even if you only have a passing interest in thrash metal is one that you need in your life.
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