Album Review: Solace – Fading Failing Ruin

Album Review: Solace – Fading Failing Ruin

Reviewed by Matthew Williams

One of the many highlights of this year’s Desertfest London, was seeing New Jersey’s Solace back on a UK stage, as it took me back many years to when I last saw them supporting Orange Goblin at Sound Control in Manchester. Time has moved on, and with the sad passing of frontman Jason L in January 2025, they have returned with a new album and a new voice.

I first got into Solace when I heard their 2003 release “13” and their mix of classic metal, early doom and punk energy really appealed to me, so armed with nine new songs and vocalist Justin Goins at the helm, it was a real pleasure to hear the monstrous opening track “Spiral Will” played at a packed Underworld in May. It’s a brooding, bruising track with crushing guitars from Justin Daniels and Tommy Southard and sets the standard for what is a superb album.

Just by listening to the opening riff of “Fettered to a Stone” you realise how good Solace are, as they reflect on the current global mood and mix it with their own combative heaviness and doom-laden soundscapes. The drums from Tim Schoenleber are pounding and the solos soar high like a bald eagle before they turn on the gritty guitars during “A God Changes His Plans”. It has a flowing groove combined with a sludge underbelly, creating a wonderful track, that gets better with the solo.

The songs have an apocalyptic theme rippling through and the behemoth that is “Wrath’s Object (The Big Fall)” weighs in at an almighty fifteen minutes long. It slowly ascends to lofty heights, with drum fills, hypnotic guitars and a beautifully drifting bass line from Mike Sica, with a morose, atmospheric rhythm. It sparks to life around the seven-minute mark when the imposing vocals make a welcomed appearance and doesn’t deviate from this dirty metal sound from there on in.

They get back on familiar ground with the rebel rousing “Culling The Herd” which is shorter and more energised, almost like a rallying call, before that lush guitar tone makes another appearance on the spiralling “Beyond Below”. The vocal range of Goins takes the song down several avenues, before the riff and pulsating rhythm takes over. There are some added keyboards which help to give the tune more purpose and power before it leads into the mournful and meandering “Malengine (The Scaffold)”.

With penultimate song “Every Day is a Loaded Gun” they lead with a raucous riff and rhythm pulsating out of the speakers, alongside a more aggressive vocal delivery. It’s an imposing song up there with the opener as my favourite on the album, as the band push their limits, yet still find time for a lighter section before chaos returns. They end with “Ridden” another song over ten minutes, so dig in, but this is steeped in stoner rock goodness whilst doffing its cap to heavy metal that will have you headbanging along in no time.

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