Solstice
New Dark Age

With a touch of arrogance, I thought I knew, for better or worse, most of the "relevant" bands that play doom metal. What a big mistake! To me, English doom has always been represented by the trio Anathema - My Dying Bride - Paradise Lost (I won't distinguish their various phases now because I might go on all night), but I've always overlooked (unintentionally) a band that, upon listening, deserves ample applause, although, I’ll say straight away, they don't reach the expressive peaks of the aforementioned trio: the Solstice.

It must be said that, in the album that introduced them to me, "New Dark Age", they are more devoted to an epic doom (did someone say Candlemass?) than to the literary-romantic digressions typical of the other three, a nuance that overall I have never liked that much when paired with this genre. Nevertheless, the result is more than good, and it makes me want to delve into this band's past.

Moving on to the work in question, it must be said that, from a technical standpoint, there aren't many frills: guitar, bass, drums, and vocals (and what a voice!) are the elements needed to transport us into their world of fantasy and medieval influences, references to mythology and ancient folk legends. As the genre dictates, most of the tracks approach ten minutes, sometimes showcasing (rarely, it should be clarified) a certain prolixity and monotony that in the long run can become tiring. A tectonic, mighty, and, help me say it, slow drum, a bass that doesn’t just bridge the rhythmic and melodic sections but adds dark, profound tones, a guitar that only occasionally ventures into particularly varied solos, and a voice, that of Morris Ingram, always in clean, epic and tormented, which in a couple of instances proves exceptional (I’m thinking especially of the short two minutes of "The Keep", where accompanied by the background of a cold wind, he sings a cappella verses of devastating melancholy) will be your companions along this journey.

Taking away some fillers (intro and outro), removing some not particularly relevant pieces ("Cromlech") and shortening others (the title track, funereal and piercing, which over time seems to drag on wearily and without particular variations for twelve minutes) we would be facing a top score album, but even so it pleases, and not a little. Certainly, one needs to get used to the singer's voice, at least I had a bit of difficulty adapting to it, but it was worth it.

In fact, a track like "The Sleeping Tyrant", with its overwhelming fervor and titanic ethics, cannot help but win over the hearts of listeners, as does the subsequent "Cimmerian Codex"; to complete the trio, I finally add the already-mentioned "The Keep".

A step below these are the instrumental "Alchemiculte", "Blackthorne" and the title track; followed by the other three.

From my point of view, the standout part of this album are the folk atmospheres of medieval ballads that are occasionally introduced, and that even more so wrap the tracks in a fascinating and unusual guise.

"New Dark Age" is a work to rediscover, like the entire discography of Solstice for that matter, a band, I repeat, perhaps underrated and that may well lose the comparison with much more renowned English doom realities, but still hold their own with pride and a lot of heart.