SOLACE - Fading Failing Ruin (Album Review)

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 

Facebook | BandCamp | Instagram

Doom/Stoner Metal Legends SOLACE Reveal First Advance Single 'Beyond Below' & details of forthcoming new album "Fading Failing Ruin"

In the heat of summer, SOLACE will return with their massively anticipated fifth full-length "Fading Failing Ruin" on July 3, 2026, via Magnetic Eye Records. The iconic self-styled dirt metal act from New Jersey, USA begin by revealing the single 'Beyond Below' as a first welcome taste of the album to come. Pre-orders are now available HERE

In advance of the album release, SOLACE will pack new songs and classics into their flight cases and embark on a European tour starting on May 7, 2026 in the French capital city of Paris. Please find the album details of "Fading Falling Ruin" and all currently confirmed live dates below.

Watch the video for 'Beyond Below' here:

SOLACE comment on 'Beyond Below': "When we released our last record 'The Brink', I swore it wouldn't take another nine years till the next one", guitarist Tommy Southard admits. "Well, it took us six and a half, which for Solace is pretty good! About the first single, I had a couple of riffs that Timmy and I used to play years and years ago in the pre-Godspeed days. Last year at a Solace practice, I started jamming one of the riffs as a goof to Timmy and Justin heard it and asked me: 'What the hell is that man? That needs to go on the new record!' At first, I laughed it off, because I had been a 14-year old metalhead when I wrote this tune, but once we tweaked it a bit – Mikey threw a part in the middle and we worked it into a complete song – it was obvious that it was going to turn into a monster. The track came out pretty amazing considering how far back in the archive it went, but that's the perks of doing this your whole damn life. I can hardly believe it's been 30 years since I started this band. Yet Solace is still here somehow, and 'Fading Failing Ruin' is the best thing we've ever musically done. Literally everybody in this band played and worked their asses off for this record!"

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

SOLACE deliver their fifth studio album "Fading Failing Ruin" just in time to celebrate the anniversary of their 30th year as a band. And all the heaviness, experience, and obvious maturity of their songwriting across three decades is perfectly reflected in the seeming ease with which these master craftsmen hammer out one captivating and crushing track after the other.

Revolving around apocalyptic, infernal, and end time themes that easily fit this day and age, "Fading Failing Ruin" nails the current global mood by taking a strong dose of inspiration from the earliest days of metal and blending it with contemporary heaviness.

A direct link goes back to 1996, when SOLACE rose from the ashes of GODSPEED, who made their name on Headbanger's Ball and Beavis & Butthead, appeared on the "Nativity in Black" tribute backing Bruce Dickinson, and toured with CATHEDRAL and BLACK SABBATH. Emerging at the dawn of the internet and the burgeoning stoner rock scene, SOLACE were driven by hardcore-infused metal, captivating vocals, and a dark doom underbelly.

The New Jersey band hit the scene with their ferocious debut "Further" in 2000. Its tracks remain as contemporary and relevant as in those early days, and an extended and re-mastered 25th anniversary edition became an unplanned but much deserved tribute to brilliant yet tortured original SOLACE vocalist Jason L., who had sadly passed away in January 2025.

SOLACE continued to build on a solid foundation of classic metal, early doom, and punk ethic into which the four-piece infused a healthy dose of hardcore fury and groovy, grinding sludge.

Three years after the worldwide success of "Further", SOLACE returned with the sophomore album "13" (2003), which highlighted the epic side of their songwriting. In the wake of this album, the band was invited twice to perform at the prestigious Roadburn Festival in 2006 and 2009.

The shoremen returned with their highly praised third album "A.D." in 2010. Despite the band's growing acclaim, SOLACE took an informal hiatus to revamp their lineup, returning even stronger with full-length number four, "The Brink", in 2019.

SOLACE have called their amalgamation of doom and heavy metal with hardcore elements dirt metal, while elsewhere it has been somewhat tongue-in-cheekily dubbed shorecore. Others file the New Jersey five-piece under stoner metal – and in truth, all these descriptions have and still fit the band to an extent.

With "Fading Failing Ruin", SOLACE erect a new milestone of US heavy metal that respects traditions from both sides of the Atlantic while churning toward a chaotic future. Time to bang those heads!

Line-up

Justin Skyler Daniels – guitar
Justin Goins – keyboard, vocals
Tim Schoenleber – drums
Mike Sica – bass
Tommy Southard – guitar

Guest musicians

Pelle Andersson (LOWRIDER) – various keyboards
Eric Rachel – additional keyboards
Duane Hutter – slide guitar

Recording by Eric Rachel at Bulletproof Music Studio, Hazlet, NJ (US) & The Pussycat Club, Milford, NJ (US)

Produced by Eric Rachel & Solace
Mix & mastering by Eric Rachel at Trax East, South River, NJ (US)
Cover art & layout by Paul Vismara

Links

www.facebook.com/solaceband
www.instagram.com/solace_nj

SOLACE "Fading Failing Ruin" European Tour Dates 2026

07 MAY 2026 Paris (FR) La Maroquinerie (Supporting Hermano)
08 MAY 2026 Utrecht (NL) Tivoli (Supporting Hermano)
09 MAY 2026 Köln (DE) Luxor (Supporting Hermano
10 MAY 2026 Dresden (DE) Chemiefabrik
11 MAY 2026 Wien (AT) Arena (Supporting Hermano)
12 MAY 2026 München (DE) Backstage (Supporting Hermano)
13 MAY 2026 Hagen (DE) Werkhof Hohenlimburg
15 MAY 2026 London (UK) Desertfest London
16 MAY 2026 Bridgewater (UK) Cobblestones
17 MAY 2026 Bristol (UK) The Gryphon
18 MAY 2026 Bournemouth (UK) Bear Cave
20 MAY 2026 Hildesheim (DE) Club VEB
21 MAY 2026 Göttingen (DE) Vinyl-Reservat
22 MAY 2026 Hamburg (DE) Stellwerk

SOLACE US Live Dates 2026

06 JUN 2026 Atlantic City, NJ (US) Anchor Rock Club
19 SEP 2026 Austin, TX (US) Ripplefest Texas
10 OCT 2026 Youngstown, OH (US) Emissions from the Monolith

Thanks to All Noir PR and Magnetic Eye Records for the detials.

SOLACE - The Brink (Album Review)

Release date: December 13th 2019. Label: Blues Funeral Recordings. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

The Brink – Tracklisting

1.Breaker of the Way

2.Desert Coffin

3.Dead Sailor's Dream

4.Waste People

5.The Light is a Lie

6.Crushing Black

7.Bird of Ill Omen

8.Shallows Fade

9.The Brink

10.Until the Last Dog is Hung

11.Dead Sailor's Reprise

Members

Tommy Southard - Guitar

Justin Daniels - Guitar

Goins - Vocals

Mike Sica - Bass

Timmy Gitlan - Drums

Review

Doom Metal Legends Solace return with their first album in almost a decade with THE BRINK. A 70 minute plus album which sees the band on stunning form. The band play a classic style of Doom/Stoner Metal with influences such as NWOBHM, Prog Rock and Psych Rock appearing on the album. Solace have had numerous line-up changes through the years and this album doesn’t suffer from that at all.

The Brink has a deep rich progressive sound that feels like it’s coming from a completely different band at times. Can we call The Brink a comeback album. As it feels Solace feel more ALIVE and HUNGRIER than ever. The album has 11 songs and all showing SOLACE deep love and appreciation for DOOM METAL and HEAVY GROOVES.

The opening 2 songs – Breaker Of The Way and Desert Coffin – show how the rest of the album plays out with classic sounding Doom/Stoner Metal riffs that have a timeless quality to them. The album has a deep nautical theme to it that allows SOLACE to let their musical imagination run wild with vivid creativity.

The majority of the songs run for about 5 mins to 7 mins each and each contain spellbinding lyrics, hypnotic riffs and awesome vocals to match. The album has some of the best Doom Metal riffs you’ll hear all year. SOLACE feel most live on the 2^nd half of the album as that’s where some of the heaviest tunes appear and lead vocalist Goins being on majestic form as well.

The standout songs are Dead Sailor's Dream, Waste People, Crushing Black, Shallows Fade and Dead Sailor’s Reprise. The production is as epic as the music itself. SOLACE have never sounded so good. So this is definitely the best sounding album of their career.

The Brink never outstays it’s welcome despite the 70 minute plus runtime. I wanted the album to go on for much longer as the album is packed full of incredible songs. This album feels like a greatest hits album than a collection of new songs. All instantly recognizable which will have you coming back for more.

SOLACE have released a classic Doom/Stoner Metal album with The Brink. It’s everything you want from a Doom/Stoner Metal record. This is perhaps the “DOOM METAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR”.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Jadd at Red Lead PR for the promo. The Brink will be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl from December 13^th 2019 via Blues Funeral Recordings.

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp