LP Review: "Reach For The Sky" by Solitude

Reach For The Sky

Driving home last night, I was listening to the Stuff You Missed In History Class Podcast.

The ever affable hosts were discussing The Piltdown Man. As an avid student of Antrhopology and Human Evolution ever since first seeing the chart of human evolution in National Geographic, this particular episode was of great interest to me.

This was the first time mine ears had heard the phrase, Piltdown Man.

It was a transitional hominid species discovered in Europe with a simian like mandible and human like brain case. Long has the idea of the transitional species fossils been a sticking point for science deniers.

It's as if they are saying, humanity has found every single fossil and species that has ever to have walked the earth, therefore as we don't have these transitional species today, they do not exist.

No one knows quite for sure why, but the Piltdown Man was a total fraud.

Solitude

The Piltdown Man was a missing link to something that never existed.

Though the furthest thing from fraud, Solitude is kind of like The Piltdown Man.

Originally formed in 1996, they have a strong NWOBHM, Thrash, and Traditional Heavy Metal influence.

It's as if we've finally found the band that's the link between Iron Maiden and Metallica!

Of course, as this album came out in 2016 (in the States), that's obviously not the case. But in music and the arts, unlike science, you can always go backwards to find inspiration.

Solitude has a thick vocal style. There's little of the NWOBHM or Traditional Metal influence there. Vocalist, Akira Sugiuchi, straddles the line between early James Hetfield and current Paul Speckmann.

The guitarist, Shingo Ida, plays a wide variety of styles. Between Iron Maiden arpeggio runs, Metallica's crushing riffs, and Black Sabbath's ringing chords, Ida covers all the bases. That's just his rhythm work.

Ida's leads are unbelievable. It would be nice had he a friend for more harmonies, but that's certainly to take nothing away from his work!

All of the songs are titled, written, and sung in English, taking away from the idea that the Japanese school system isn't teaching their children English very well. This album has already been out in Japan, but now those of us in the west get to hear their take on Western Metal.

If you're looking for another Babymetal...keep looking. This is harsh stuff.

Release: 11/25/16
Genre: Metal
Label: Test Your Metal Records
Formats: CD/Digital
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