Reviews from "Solaris"

Review Rockfarbor 28.03.21 - Posted in The Final Stage reviews Review by Mikael "Miggo" Johansson
3/5
Rockfarbror.se

Something distantly sealed is not what we're talking about here. Rather, a 40-odd year sonic past based in England. Though these guys are based in Switzerland and gave away their first sign of life with a demo in 2003.

They make no secret of neither having been around since 1982 nor of their anything-but-British names, but this is their fourth album.

Kill the dragon kicks off as a minor echo of Steve Harris and company, but there's more to come. The fact that this band has two guitarists should surprise no one. Vocalist JayJay has a voice in the more brittle direction, brittle here being spelled Kai Hansen, or just former Jaguar singer Rob Reiss, whose voice was probably more on the verge of cracking than the "fair-haired" German's. The number of bands echoing Iron Maiden is immeasurable, so what else is here?

In Queen of sin, Judas Priest's Scott Travis' drumming makes its presence felt. Fall for glory won't raise anyone's pulse and I start to despair.

But then it happens! I am Omega has a touch of late Blitzkrieg, and the British riffs of bands like Jameson Raid and Trident pop up in glowing World of wire. One of those riffs that feels like it could go on for days. It feels a little thin that the bandinfon only mentions Iron Maiden and Judas Priest when Distant Past mixes it up and delivers their own flavoured version of Swiss cheese.

The album (pun intended) also has a bit of a happy glow to it, perhaps this is the start of a more coherent time for the project that has been changing members at a rapid pace and barely playing live. But don't get too steady, or you'll lose a strong element of Britishness, remember there are bands who in 40 years have passed their 15th guitarist!

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