SOLAR FLARE Album Review: “Solar Flare”

February 13, 2022 | Posted in Albums, Reviews | Comments Off on SOLAR FLARE Album Review: “Solar Flare”
Iron Mathew
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SOLAR FLARE
“Solar Flare”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

8/10

Solar Flare are a heavy metal band from the USA formed in 2014. The band have opened for bands such as Anthrax and Sonata Arctica, and in 2020 released their self titled debut album.

American and European styles of power metal collide with traditional heavy metal in a forty minute rollercoaster ride of infectious and catchy songs. Solar Flare announce their arrival on the metal scene with seven songs of head banging, fist punching, adrenaline pumping certainty. The rollercoaster begins with the marching NWOBHM influenced ‘Medieval’. Full of buzzing guitar riffs and a mid tempo melodic thud, ‘Medieval’ is classic sounding British metal – from an American band! The iconic eighties NWOBHM sound has influenced bands all over the world, and continues to do so today…

…strongly influencing Solar Flare. The NWOBHM buzz gets stronger with the mid paced and hugely melodic ‘Under The Sun’. The band have toured with some high profile bands and I’m sure the experience gained has done the band wonders. ‘Under The Sun’ is addictive and infectious with an oh so catchy chorus to be passionately sung by everyone. ‘Born To Burn’ takes on a Powerslave era buzz – the guitars resonating with the sound of developing heavy metal courtesy of the legendary British band Iron Maiden. ‘Born To Burn’ is up tempo, “foot on the monitor” head bang able heavy metal. ‘Pharaoh’, the first of two seven minute plus songs, opens in an eerie and highly atmospheric manner, adopting a very heavy foot stomp as it progresses. Regal sounding with a marching rhythm, ‘Pharaoh’ has plenty of variety to keep you hooked from start to finish.

Picking up the pace and showing the bands power metal influence, ‘Nous Sommes’ is an up tempo and up lifting romp, full of galloping rhythms. The fastest song on the album, ‘Nous Sommes’ is a corker, and will please every head banger around the world. The much more melodic and hard rock orientated ‘Taken To The Other Side’ is a catchy romp, fairly mellow and a breather from the all out heavy metal of the rest of the album. The final song ‘World In My Head’ is the second seven minutes plus epic, and returns the classic sound of traditional heavy metal to the album. The “foot on the monitor” gallop is in full swing, albeit out and out pace is reined in, but that doesn’t stop ‘World In My Head’s up tempo bombastic energy shining through.

Overall, a solid gallop of traditional heavy metal, Solar Flare thump and thunder their way through seven highly enjoyable songs.

TRACKLIST

Medieval
Under The Sun
Born To Burn
Pharaoh
Nous Sommes
Taken To The Other Side
A World In My Head

https://solarflareofficial.bandcamp.com/releases
https://www.facebook.com/OfficialSolarFlare/

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