SOLACE

With 30 years of active service on the clock, SOLACE are clearly here for the long haul. Founder and guitarist Tommy Southard has guided the New Jersey crew through persistent lineup changes (SOLACE have had more drummers than seems strictly reasonable) and countless episodes of bad luck and career-threatening chaos, and yet his devotion to The Riff remains absolute. Just as they did on their seminal debut album "Further" back in the year 2000, this band still has passion and creativity by the truckload. "Fading Failing Ruin" may be reductively labelled as a stoner metal record, but the truth is that SOLACE are much deeper and more dynamic than that. And when it comes to music of this particular persuasion, very few bands have this level of uproarious spirit.

An album that boasts a mind-blowing number of great riffs, "Fading Failing Ruin" rarely deviates from SOLACE's predetermined style, preferring instead to expand and manipulate the essence of their story so far into something bigger and more ambitious. Led by the raw but soulful vocals of frontman Justin Goins, this is an adventurous and diverse set of songs that drip with authenticity and humble strength. They are a versatile bunch, too. Compare and contrast the short, succinct songs that form part of this riff-driven splurge, with the progressive and audacious indulgence of its towering centerpiece, "Wrath's Object (The Big Fall)": SOLACE prove their psychedelic metal credentials on the tooth-rattling likes of opener "Spiral Will", the brooding "A God Changes His Plans" and the rapacious, sub-three-minute hullabaloo of "Culling the Herd", dropping none-more-classic riffs like cluster bombs and giving the likes of CORROSION OF CONFORMITY a run for their money. But when they really flex their songwriting muscles, SOLACE transform into a wild and wayward force for hard rock excellence. A 15-minute lysergic odyssey that pairs crushing heaviness with multitudinous, revelatory atmosphere and numerous prog-friendly touches, "Wrath's Object (The Big Fall)" is a simply astonishing piece of music. Southard's gift has long been an ability to conjure magic from the grittiest of ingredients, and here he and his comrades are completely off the rails, reveling in the freedom to explore. The six-minute, precursory jam that leads into the first of several enormous riffs is a blissful exercise in tasteful restraint, skillfully enhancing the impact of what follows. When the riffs do kick in, the power simmering behind the album's production springs into life, transcends any obvious comparisons (BLACK SABBATH aside),and throws its weight around, as Southard's flawless guitar work sparkles and sings across deft changes of pace, Goins's tremulous bellowing and a hypnotic rhythm section throwdown. Even ignoring its expansive duration, it is a self-evident career peak for all concerned.

Elsewhere, sprawling riff-riots like "Beyond Below" and "Malengine (The Scaffold)" find fresh ways to pummel listeners with more riffs, melodies and unapologetic, balls-out might. The closing "Ridden" is a wonderfully languorous finale that doubles as a celebration of Southard's unerring brilliance as a writer of memorable riffs. "Fading Failing Ruin" builds upon the great work executed on 2019's sort-of-comeback album "The Brink", delivering more exemplary riffs per square inch than most bands could even dream about. These unsung heroes of the stoner metal world are operating on their own sublime level, and this is their finest album yet.