New Hampshire-based melodic blackened death metal band SOLIUM FATALIS has released a lyric video for another new song from forthcoming album Genetically Engineered to Enslave. Listen to the “Threshold” below.
SOLIUM FATALIS‘ brand of extreme metal began with the self-titled independent release of their 2013 full length debut album featuring production by Fredrik Nordstrom (AT THE GATES, DIMMU…
Album Review by Bradley Christensen
Solium Fatalis – Neuronic Saw / The Undying Season
Record Label: Wicked Music / Galy Records
Release Date: November 11 2016 / February 17 2015
Every once in awhile, I always have to talk about underground bands, artists, and albums, because it’s such an amazing thing to find bands and/or albums that no one really knows about. I’ve seen some critics that don’t want to do that, because those videos won’t get enough views, or that not enough people will care about those albums / bands, but that’s not always true. Yeah, those videos might not get as many views, because not as many people know about that band, so they’re not apt to click, but those are the more casual viewers / fans. If those fans don’t care about the more unknown stuff, that’s totally okay, because they’re not obligated to care about anything. The fans that watch your content religiously, pretty much, are the ones that are going to care about your content, especially on smaller bands. That’s why it bothers me that certain critics will just put a bunch of unknown bands into a single video, barely talking about / promoting each band or album, because they know that the individual videos won’t get all that many views. The problem that I have with that, too, is that you shouldn’t care about how many views your videos get. I mean, I understand if you make money off YouTube, and that’s how you base your income, but if you truly love music, you shouldn’t care how many views they get. You shouldn’t care how many people watch those videos, because you want at least someone to care, right? My personal philosophy is that as long as one person reads your blog, or watches your videos, you’re making a difference. I don’t talk about music because I want to be famous, or that I want to be the next Anthony Fantano, but I just want to talk about it because I love it.
I want others to hear what I have to say, whether they agree with me or not. I have a passion for music, and that’s what it should be about, first and foremost. I just hate how certain critics talk about unknown / underground bands, because it’s almost like they disrespect them or don’t give them the same respect, just because those videos or posts won’t get as many views or clicks. I love talking about unknown bands, though, just because these are bands that you might not find otherwise. If you don’t take a deep dive into music, meaning that you don’t go sites like Bandcamp or Last.fm, you won’t find a lot of random bands / artists that are similar to other things you like. I’ve lost count or how many bands I’ve found on Bandcamp, just from searching through certain tags of genres that I like. I did that recently with black metal, because I went on a deep dive with that kind of music. I was getting into some new black metal albums, so I decided to search through the plethora of bands / albums that Bandcamp has to offer. I don’t remember if it was through the black metal or blackened death metal tag, but I found a band called Solium Fatalis. They’re a blackened death metal band with some melodic death metal elements, and they’ve released a few albums, so I decided to pick up their last two, 2016’s Neuronic Saw and 2015’s The Undying Season. I’m talking about them both here, just because they both sound very similar. That’s not a bad thing whatsoever, because I’ve done that many times when I pick up two albums from a band that has a very consistent sound, but I always point that out. I will say, though, that these are a couple of great records. They’re nothing all that unique, but they’re a good example of a band that does what they do well.
This band’s sound is basically blackened death metal, but they have a lot of melody in the guitarwork, so there’s a big element of melo-death here. Imagine if At The Gates and Behemoth combined their sound, or something along those lines, because that’s what you get with these albums. They’re very energetic, intense, and brutal blackened death metal albums with a melodic edge to it, so I’m enjoying them a lot. Like I said, though, they’re not very unique, and when you break down each sound they’ve got going on, that’s when it gets really obvious, but it’s not bad. If you enjoy any, or all, of these kinds of heavy metal, whether it’s blackened death metal, black metal, death metal, or melodic death metal, I’d listen to these albums. This band is very talented, and their musicianship is very good. They all sound awesome, and the intensity meter on this album is high, but I mean that in a good way. This album is heavy, and it’s awesome for that. There are a few moments where things slow down, at least just a tad, and I like that there is a lot of melody within the guitarwork, so it’s not all just mindless brutality, although that can be a lot of fun. These albums are short, too; Neuronic Saw is only a half hour long, whereas The Undying Season is around 40, so you’re not spending a whole ton of time with these albums. They’re albums that I want to play over again, too, though, because of how awesomely executed they are. Yeah, these albums are pretty generic, but they’re the kind of generic that I like a lot. Hell, I love these albums, because they understand what makes this sound work. Not to mention, they throw in that melo-death sound, and it works really well for them. These guys are really talented, and I wouldn’t have found them if it weren’t for Bandcamp, so give them a listen if you’re curious.
