Album Review: Solace - Further
Reviewed by Matthew Williams
I have cast my mind back to December 2010, when I witnessed Solace for the one and only time when they supported Orange Goblin at Sound Control in Manchester. They intrigued me a lot, so I kept waiting to see them again, but I don’t think I ever did and totally forgot about the band. Hence, when I saw they had a new album out, I picked it up and was looking forward to hearing the new songs.
It’s been 25 years since they released their debut album, and they had already planned a re-mastered version of “Further” before original singer Jason passed away in January of this year. This release has since become a tribute to the late frontman, and the songs still sound as fresh and potent as they did when they were released a quarter of a century ago.
You can feel the stoner metal power straight away on “Man Dog” when that riff kicks in and your head will be nodding along in appreciation. It’s a big, powerful track that doesn’t feel like seven minutes plus, with a huge bass sound from Rob Hultz. They follow this up with another explosive track, “Black Unholy Ground” that has that raucous, dirty feel to it and reminds me of the quality that they had back in the day.
There were eight tracks on the original version, with “Followed” and “Whistle Pig” given the full treatment, but they’ve added a few more to this one, so you get extra wonderment for your listening pleasure. As I’m listening through, I’ve forgotten how damn good this album is. “Hungry Mother” sees the more soulful and tender side of the band coming out before you get the monstrous “Angels Dreaming” with its heavy and slow feel before “Suspicious Tower” showcases the band perfectly, brilliant bass, devastating drums and rowdy riffs to compliment the vicious vocals.
The original ended with the behemoth of a song called “Heavy Birth 2-Fisted” and it’s a pleasure to once again be acquainted with the track, as I haven’t heard it in many, many years. It’s got everything that you want from a heavy stoner rock song and encapsulates Solace perfectly. You get another version of this later, which is still as mad and crazy, but somehow sounds different. This is alongside “Another Life”, “We Bite”, “On The Hunt” and the extraordinary “Dirt” before they end it with a live version of “Funk #49 (Live in Tokyo `98).
Hopefully, this re-issue will put the name of Solace onto the lips of a whole new generation of stoner rock/doom metal fans, as this is an album to savour.
