Band:	Solstice (USA)
Album:	Casting The Die
Style:	Death metal
Release date:	May 2021

01. The Altruist
02. Transparent
03. Who Bleeds Whom
04. Lifeline
05. Ignite
06. Outlast
07. Seven
08. Embellishment Exposed
09. Cast The Die
10. Eyes Sewn Shut
11. Scratch

No, not that Solstice, the other, other one. .

When you consider the cast of characters that have passed through the ranks of Solstice (USA) over the years, you would be forgiven for thinking the band would be one of the biggest names in death metal. Alas, the revolving door nature of the band has meant they have served as a stage for musicians to audition for other bands; with a now consistent line-up, the band gear up for what is only the fourth full-length of career and first in over a decade, 2021's Casting The Die.

Three decades on from their seminal self-titled debut (highly recommended), Solstice (USA) make up for lost time and produce a record that ignores the years and transports you back to the heady days of death metal's ascendence with an album educated in the ways of the old school. Alas, the years have moved on, and many bands have graduated from the same classes and produced a vast array of material based on the same formulas in the time it has taken the band to get around to Casting The Die, leaving it to sound all too familiar for a fan of the genre.

With that said, the album does have its moments, such as with "Ignite", which will get your blood flowing and make you think the band are on the right track; sadly, it falls short of its destination, leaving you in a no man's land between a strong song and an ok one. This is a recurring theme for much of the record, with "Embellishment Exposed" and "Eyes Sewn Shut" sitting comfortably alongside the former track, giving you something to listen to but nothing to really enjoy.

With such a number of metal luminaries passing through the band's ranks over the years, you can be assured of the quality of musicianship here; Solstice (USA) are not short of talent, but there is an important distinction between talent and ideas. Simply put, the band play well but it's well-played mid-quality ideas; there is only so much they can do with the talent at hand to try to breathe life into the music. Taylor and Munoz are adept guitar players in their own right, but they're unable to bring it to bear on the material here; Marquez is in the same boat, a brilliant CV but it means little when listening to this.

As much as I wanted to enjoy Casting The Die, there is little to feel genuinely excited about; while the band and songs are competent and aren't offputting, they do little more than a standard run through the tropes of death metal without adding anything attention-grabbing or cranium-smashing. Songs like "Transparent" and "Lifeline" sound like generic old school death metal tracks that you have heard before (and likely will hear again): enjoyable for what it is but nothing that is going to want you to hear it again.

While you could do far worse than put this album, on the same is true on the inverse, and that perhaps is the best summation I could give this record; if you walk down the middle of the road, you can be hit by cars on both sides. Hopefully the band decide to give things another crack in the not too distant future as there is something there, it's just a matter of being able to put it to tape.