Review: Solace ‘Fading Failing Ruin’
Hope we’re all enjoying the year of our Lord 2026 – now memorable for an eclipse of the sun and the release of a new Solace album – two events that occur only approximately once per decade! To be honest, it doesn’t feel that long ago that The Brink emerged, so colour-me-confused when I double-checked and found that it was back in 2019.
Whether you first came across Solace via a Tony Hawk’s video game, their much-missed touring with Brit-heroes Orange Goblin, or some other far-flung route, they always seem to be thought of as a band of and for the fans. Maybe it’s the apparently constant stream of bad fortune, mistiming and folly that has defined their career – or maybe it’s that they are one of those handful of bands that have consistently produced really strong albums without ever really threatening to break through to anything like the mainstream.
Chances are that most of us would trot out the old stoner rock tag if we were asked what Solace sounded like. However, The Brink showed them erring more toward the outer reaches of classic heavy metal, and with Fading Failing Ruin, I’d argue they are bringing some full-on NWOBHM riffage. I can’t quite put my finger on why, but each time I’ve listened to it, I’ve had an overwhelming desire to follow it up with some Angel Witch!
Opening track, Spiral Will kicks off with a riff that really wouldn’t be out of place on a latter-day Maiden album, and I’m not the biggest fan of it, to be honest. Happily, riffs on Solace albums are like the Scottish weather; if you don’t like it, don’t worry, it’ll change in a minute or so. I actually thought about trying to count the number of riffs on the album but gave that up as a fool’s errand after running out of fingers and toes midway through the second track, Fettered To A Stone.
The opening brace of tunes are good, but things really step up with the third track, A God Changes His Plans. The main riffs are dirty bike-rock which would have sat very happily on Orange Goblin’s Coup de Grace platter. We then move onto Wrath’s Object (The Big Fall) – all fifteen minutes of it! Now, from memory, The Black Black EP was where Solace’s songs started getting longer and more complex, but Wrath’s Object… is (in my view) totally unnecessarily lengthened mainly by having a slow and pretty ponderous intro that goes on for almost seven minutes! This might sound like hyperbole, but the first time I listened to the album, I genuinely sat up after four minutes to check the MP3 wasn’t faulty as I seemed to be stuck in some sort of time loop. Thankfully, what follows is a good track, but in truth, it would need something of Sabbathian proportions to fix the wheels back on immediately.
Culling The Herd sets things right with some furious riffing and a Motörhead tempo. If your neck muscles aren’t at least gently aching after listening to this track, then I would suggest you check your pulse for signs of life/death. This rager is less than three minutes long; the contrast is stark.
It shows exactly how good they can still be, some thirty years after they started…
The lead single, Beyond Below, then comes around, and it’s just as good on the record as it was in isolation. This is the album’s central track, and it does everything that a Solace fan would want a Solace track to do in 2026. It shows exactly how good they can still be, some thirty years after they started.
Having, quite rightly, praised Beyond Below, it’s perhaps surprising that the best riff on the album comes straight afterwards as the intro to Malengine (The Scaffold). Not only that, but for my money, this is Justin Goins strongest vocal in a Solace shirt. In fact, having listened to it again, I’m struggling to pick a winner between these two tracks; let’s call them the twin tentpoles of the album, shall we?
Every Day Is A Loaded Gun brings back the slightly punk vibe that they do so well, before settling into a classic metal feel and an almost Stone Temple Pilots-like section at the five-minute mark. In short, it covers a hell of a lot of ground in eight minutes, throwing keyboards and a classical guitar solo in for good measure.
Closing track, Ridden, would be comfortable sandwiched between Further and 13. Which isn’t to say it sounds old or tired – quite the opposite – these are the most stoner riffs on the record, and they sound vital and fresh. What Ridden does do is nicely bring the record – and Solace’s recorded output – full circle.
This band always put out great albums; nothing in their discography is anything less than a B+. Tracks five through to nine are as good a run as on anything they’ve put out, and the opening of the record is no slouch either. That leaves me with a real head-scratcher regarding Wrath’s Object… all I would say is that you have fifty-two minutes to sit down and listen to the new Solace album, then skipping it might not only mean you get to your next appointment on time, but you might also have listened to a better album(?!).
Either way, having more Solace in our lives is always a good thing. I raise a glass to the boys and hope (as we always do) that the wait won’t be so long ‘til the next one!
Label: Magnetic Eye Records
Band Links: Official | Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: David J McLaren
