Band:	Solitary
Album:	Embrace The Darkness
Style:	Thrash metal
Release date:	September 2024
A review by:	omne metallum

01. IXII-XII-MMXX
02. Embrace The Darkness
03. Settle Scores The Old Way
04. Virtues
05. Bury It Now
06. Beneath The Surface
07. The Disappeared
08. Section 21
09. Filtering Hindsight

Pearl anniversary. 

(Not so) quietly propping up the UK thrash scene for the last thirty years, Solitary have long established themselves in the UK underground as a reliable source of hard-hitting thrash metal: not quite hitting the heights of others in the scene, but reliably serving fans for many years. With 2024 marking their thirtieth as a band, Embrace The Darkness isn't the pearl you'd hope for after thirty years, but it is a serviceable album by a band with many miles on the odometer. 

Solitary have long established their trademark sound (you'd hope so after thirty years), forgoing the flashy and exuberant style of many of their peers, and instead opting for a rough and raw approach that rests on the strong rhythm section that makes up the band's core. Embrace The Darkness doesn't see the band stray from this recipe, but it carries on with their continual refinements at the fringes. 

"Virtues" leans heavily into the groove, and sees Sherrington and Mellor provide some catchy guitar work that will catch the ear and makes the track the most memorable one here, while "Section 21" dives straight into a frenzy of riffs and drum rolls that will get the blood pumping. Sherrington's gruff vocals are hit-and-miss, but it fits the hardcore leanings of tracks like "Bury It Now" and adds to the raw aesthetic the band deals in. The chaotic and buzzing "The Disappeared" may not push the boundaries of thrash and feels like retreading old ground, but it is delivered with such rage and vigour that, while it blasts away, it doesn't diminish your enjoyment. 

While it does add to the band's aesthetic, the spartan production on Embrace The Darkness hinders the album as much as it adds to it, with Miller's drum sound being the worst affected. The clicky and dull thudding on a track like "Settle Scores The Old Way" detracts from the rest of the song, and does not enable what should be hard-hitting percussive blasts to propel the track along. While it doesn't ruin the experience, it does prevent it from reaching its full potential. 

Solitary's style does have limited appeal, likely to be as off-putting to some as it is enjoyable to others. One part of this is Sherrington's rough vocal style, which can at times feel like sandpaper to the eardrums, with the title track in particular an example where it hinders the song more than it elevates it. The lack of any exuberant or flashy moments combined with the production, does mean the album doesn't possess any moment that will make you sit up and pay attention, be it a flashy solo or over-the-top vocal line, leaving the album to sometimes blend into the background unintentionally. 

Lasting thirty years is an achievement for any band, a testament to quality and persistence to continue to forge a career despite what hurdles may be faced. While Embrace The Darkness isn't the crowning achievement to mark the occasion, hopefully it can draw attention to Solitary's back catalogue and lead to some searching deeper into the band's prior work to see what powered them to thirty years of existence.