20th October 2020

Review: “The Truth Behind The Lies” by Solitary

Now signed to German rock and metal powerhouse Metalville Records, Solitary have been given the backing to take on the World with their fourth studio album “The Truth Behind The Lies“, created together with producer Simon Efemey (Amorphis, Napalm Death, Paradise Lost). Once again they have managed to coax the legendary Koot (Girlschool, Saxon, The Almighty) out of retirement for their cover art and the quartet of Richard Sherrington (Vocals and Rhythm Guitar), Gareth Harrop (Bass), Andy Mellor (Lead Guitar) and Roy Miller (Drums) are said to be inspired by the bulls***, the stupidity and cruelty that blights our society, never having sounded this angry or this f***ing heavy before, ready to spearhead a fresh assault on the forces of corruption.

The battle cry which launches the album is “I Will Not Tolerate“, a brute of a track that gallops out of the gate in a timeless Thrash style with a tip of the hat to bands like Sacred Reich and Exodus but done for the here and now, not leaning heavily on 80’s Thrash nostalgia and instead cutting their own path through the jungle’s undergrowth. Sherrington’s vocals are reminiscent of original Biohazard vocalist Evan Seinfeld in tone and he’s spitting pure venom here with barbed lyrical points while surrounded by a whirlwind of riffs and some blazing hot solos. Once the opening cut has grabbed your attention and told you that this is a going to be a pleasure you can’t measure, the follow up needs to be strong and that’s exactly what “The Dark… The Resilient” is. A thunderous opening passage of almost tribal drum patterns from Miller and a slow pick slide come to life as the band burst back into the riffs in a track that depicts someone suffering from the pain and misery of what they hold inside, living a life filled with regret. The first pre-release single was “Abominate“, waging a war on hypocrisy with the bloodthirsty intent of a pack of wolves in a frozen Canadian waste land, the video for which features footage from their Bloodstock Open Air appearance in 2019 spliced with the working sketches of the album artwork. It’s a headbangers delight and has a sublime ripper of a solo, Mellor adding some lead highlights as well in similar fashion to Marc Rizzo of Soulfly without being as high in the mix and those closing leads bleed neatly into the opening salvo of “Homage To the Broken” adding to the flow of the record. Let’s make no mistake, this is an album rather than a collection of songs and that only serves to enhance the experience. The track itself makes good use of more complex language in the lyrics, as the album does as a whole, with a clenched fist of perseverance in the face of hopelessness, defying all odds.

Saving the title track for the second half of the record is a testament to the quality of the album as a whole and “The Truth Behind The Lies” is a blistering cut in its own right, maintaining the attitude and housing another face melting solo within its confines. Sherrington and Mellor are a great guitar partnership, keeping the frenetic pace of the riffs high a full of ideas that never grow tired. The odd time signatured moments of “Catharsis” are a nice touch and one can only imagine that their live shows are an exhausting pleasure of moshing, headbanging and circle pits, the rhythm section providing the fuel that allows the guitarists to set things alight. The pulverizing “Dishonour True Reality” could have appeared at any point on the album and would have worked well as an opening piece, the cutting lyrics fitting the relentless rhythmic battery perfectly and the extended lead flourish that lights up the second half of the track makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. It’s that good. The final track “Spawn Of Hate” is a fine summary piece for the album and would make a good choice for a single and music video, it’s Trivium esq riffs and vibrant leads mean that your jaw doesn’t leave the floor for the duration of the record. If “I Will Not Tolerate” is not an anthem for disaffected thrashers everywhere, then there is something wrong with this World; Solitary have produced their finest hour with this album and it needs to be heard [8.5/10]

Track listing