SOLITARY
“THE TRUTH BEHIND THE LIES”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

10/10

Solitary are a thrash metal band from the UK formed in 1994 releasing their first demo ‘Desolate’ in 1995 quickly followed by a second, ‘Fear’ in 1996. Over the next twenty years the band have gone on to release an E.P. (1996’s ‘The Human Condition’), two studio albums (1998’s ‘Nothing Changes’ and 2008’s ‘Requiem’), and one live album (2014’s ‘I Promise To Thrash Forever’), culminating in 2017’s ‘The Diseased Heart Of Society’ – the bands third studio album and by far and away their best work to date. To celebrate their twenty fifth anniversary, the band released the five song E.P. ‘XXV’ in 2019, followed by their fourth studio album ‘The Truth Behind The Lies’…

…thirty seven minutes of acutely aggressive and fast paced thrash metal. The band are firing on all cylinders, delivering an explosive and crushing display of Album Of The Year potential. ‘The Truth Behind The Lies’ is in fierce competition with Heathen’s ‘Empire Of The Blind’, Onslaught’s ‘Generation Antichrist’, Anonymus’s ‘La Bestia’, Poltergeist’s ‘Feather Of Truth’, Hazzerd’s ‘Delirium’, Assassin’s ‘Bestia Immundis’, Havok’s ‘V’, and Testament’s ‘Titans Of Creation’, and new albums still to come this year from Sodom, Wreck-Defy, Harlott and Accuser… 2020 may be a shit year because of the deadly pandemic gripping the world, but it’s a fucking great year for thrash metal music – Solitary just one of many bands to have taken this year by storm, and offered up (probably) the best album of their careers.

So what of ‘The Truth Behind The Lies’… “stunning” is my one word review, but regular readers will know I have much more to say than that, after all, why use one word when you can use fifty!

‘I Will Not Tolerate’ opens the album, screaming into life at high velocity, blazing a trail of fire as it scorches by at lightning speed. The aggression level is extremely high, with the bands singer spitting the vocals with pure venom. ‘I Will Not Tolerate’ is a stunning way to open an album, making every listener immediately sit up and take notice – Solitary are back, and are faster, heavier, and more aggressive than ever. Three years ago, I was stunned at just how fast and ferocious ‘The Diseased Heart Of Society’ was – ‘I Will Not Tolerate’ has beaten that album to a pulp in a little under five minutes! ‘The Dark… The Resilient’ marches into sight, adopting a more “heavy metal” feel than thrash, but the venomous vocals remain, along with th…. oh just fuck it, ‘The Dark… The Resilient’ is a thrash metal song, with a small injection of traditional heavy metal as it begins. But crikey as it progresses does it get heavier, so heavy in fact, it’s gonna reduce buildings to rubble. The weight of ‘The Dark… The Resilient’ is heavier than the heaviest thing you can think of.

Pace and power return to bludgeon the listener in the mighty shape of ‘Abominate’. Ferocity knows no bounds as Solitary proceed to deliver a beating of the most savage nature. ‘Abominate’ will crush skulls and break bones – and if you try to head bang as furiously as the riffage, I reckon your neck is gonna snap from the exertion… And with no let up in the albums ferocity, there’s just no time for a trip to the local A&E department, so just wrap a big bandage around your neck and get ready for another beating, as ‘Homage To The Broken’ steams in and proceeds to dish out some serious GBH. The rabid, raw, and raging thrash on offer is fucking ferocious – ‘Homage To The Broken’ hammering the senses into submission with a ferocity greater than world heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson. Solitary are really giving it their all here, with a no holds barred, all hell breaking loose kinda performance…

…a performance that loses none of its ferocity, with the title song ‘The Truth Behind The Lies’ a wrecking ball of extreme magnitude. Such magnitude in fact, that just one swing of ‘The Truth Behind The Lies’ is enough to shift the Earth out of its orbit! And fuck me, the pace gets even quicker – quicker than anything heard so far! ‘Catharsis’ is faster than a speeding bullet, more devastating than a nuclear bomb, and more exciting than having sex! Well maybe not the last one! But fucking hell ‘Catharsis’ is a ferocious slice of thrash to head bang to, and head bang you will… For ‘Catharsis’ will infect your neck muscles and move your head for you. Yes, it’s that infectious! And still the stunning pace, ferocity and savagery shows no sign of relenting, with ‘Dishonour True Reality’ a brutal and fierce, full on assault. There’s gonna be a global shortage of plasters, bandages and crutches as soon as this album is over, with every listener nursing bruises following the severe thrashing Solitary have just handed out. And it’s not over yet – there’s one more hammering to survive. The final song on offer, is the highly aggressive, and furiously fast ‘Spawn Of Hate’. Solitary have once again delivered a stunning album of thrash, an album that is undoubtedly the best of their career, and a definite contender for Album Of The Year.

And as a footnote – ‘The Truth Behind The Lies’ marks my 700^th review for Metal Gods TV, and what an album to celebrate with. Solitary are a great band, with a fucking great album.

Overall, a stunningly fast and furious thrash metal rampage, rammed full of savage ferocity and raw aggression.

TRACKLIST

I Will Not Tolerate
The Dark… The Resilient
Abominate
Homage To The Broken
The Truth Behind The Lies
Catharsis
Dishonour True Reality
Spawn Of Hate

http://www.solitary.org.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/Official.Solitary/

This review is the property of Iron Mathew and Metal Gods TV. It is strictly prohibited to copy any part of this review, unless you have both of the parties’ permission, or are the band/record label/PR company in question. Failure to adhere to these instructions will be considered as Plagiarism and you will be reported to the appropriate authorities.

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