Release Date: July 03rd 2026. Record Label: Magnetic Eye Records. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl
Fading Failing Ruin - Tracklist
1.Spiral Will
2.Fettered to a Stone
3.A God Changes His Plans
4.Wrath's Object (The Big Fall)
5.Culling the Herd
6.Beyond Below
7.Malengine (The Scaffold)
8.Every Day Is A Loaded Gun
9.Ridden
Members
Justin Skyler Daniels – guitar
Justin Goins – keyboard, vocals
Tim Schoenleber – drums
Mike Sica – bass
Tommy Southard – guitar
Review
Legendary Doom/Stoner Metallers Solace return with their fifth full length album Fading Failing Ruin and with the band also celebrating their thirtieth anniversary this year, it’s great to see the band continue to enhance their overall sound on this record. The record is perhaps their most relevant and modern based effort they’ve released to date as Solace touch upon areas of music they haven’t played before such as that thrilling modern day Progressive Doom/Stoner Metal sound.
This album is less operatic than their 2019 effort The Brink. This feels like SOLACE reinventing themselves whilst paying respects to their earlier records which reminded me of their classic records Further, 13, The Black Black and A.D. There is a broader cinematic scope appearing with how SOLACE deliver their music as they touch upon areas of music inspired by the likes of YOB and PALLBEARER within the lengthier and progressive moments on the record.
Though, Solace focus mostly on creating their classic style of Stoner Metal that fuses that classic Seventies Doom Metal energy with the twin-guitar led energy of Thin Lizzy and Wishbone Ash at times whilst keeping that intense SABBATHIAN riff-worship attitude going. However, Solace are known for their self proclaimed style of Dirt Metal which is fully intact that appears fully intact on the early stages of the record on tracks such as Spiral Will, Faltered To A Stone and A God Changes His Plan.
These tracks see Solace combine groove orientated sounds with that dark twisted style of seedy Doom Metal passages with lead vocalist Justin Goins perhaps offering his best musical performance to date. There are echoes of Occult Rock, Punk Rock, Psych Rock and Proto-Metal forming an epic foundation of music for SOLACE to pulverize listeners with. The lyrics are quite obsessed with Proto-Doom and Occult Metal imagery inspired by the likes of Saint Vitus and The Obsessed but with SOLACE’s seedy “DIRT METAL” appetite being quite original in their own right.
The fourth track Wrath’s Object (The Big Fall) is an absolute game changer for the band as they transform into Doom Metal prophets which does remind me of YOB here. The song starts really slow by introducing Ambient and Psychedelic textures before Solace adding intricate levels of Post-Doom, Shoegaze and Post-Rock sounds that feels like a completely different band. However, Solace returned to their vicious monolithic ways within the second half that elevated the track to a more bombastic style of modern WEDDIAN sound. Though, the earlier stages of this track allows Solace to continue with this Spaced Out journey on the later stages of the record.
Fading Failing Ruin becomes more driven by a riff-centric delivery with changing SONIC movements becoming extra progressive on the standout tracks of Culling The Herd, Beyond Below, Malengine (The Scaffold) and Every Day Is A Loaded Gun. These tracks see Solace combine play strands of classic HEAVY METAL that have a certain IRON MAIDEN and THIN LIZZY relevance to them but still broadening their musical horizon into that familiar SOLACE landscape.
With amazing work done by the ever versatile Eric Rachel who produced the album with SOLACE but also doing sublime work on mixing, mastering and recording duties as well. This is the best that Solace have ever sounded in over twenty years and perhaps creating some of the finest music they’ve released to date.
Fading Failing Ruin is an absolute masterpiece which once again solidifies Solace as one of the best and legendary Doom/Stoner Metal bands to emerge within the last forty years or so. Long may that continue!!!!
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to All Noir PR for the promo.
Fading Failing Ruin is available to buy now on CD/DD/Vinyl via Magnetic Eye Records.
Links
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