SOLITUDE – Reach For The Sky (Revisited)

It’s very likely that many people around the word see the phrase “Metal from Japan” as a way of describing various musicians from the Far Eastern countries (not only Japan, although mainly), who upload high quality covers on YouTube. Covers played so well it sometimes has to be admitted that they’re even better than the original songs in some ways. There are, however, some quality Metal bands from the Land of Cherry Blossom, like for instance Loudness, that rather many people in the Western world are no strangers to. That doesn’t change the fact that not many bands from the Far East make it big outside Asia. But there is another band that stands a chance of being heard by the rest of the world – it’s Solitude with their most recent album titled Reach For The Sky.

The album begins in a rather peaceful way – the intro for the opening track titled “Venom’s Angel” is really deep and mysterious and possibly could make one think of Dream Theater. But there is one particular song by a far less progressive band that intro could be compared to. It’s “Damage Inc.” by Metallica. The very tranquil and melodic clean guitar intro lasts for about a minute. Then everything stops and all instrument kick in. That’s certainly a great way to start an album.

The overall production of the record does not leave anything to be desired, it is very decent and every single instrument, including bass, can be heard really well, especially in “Blow” which is the second song on the album. It’s the kind of bass sound D.D. Verni or Rex Brown would have approved of for sure.

It is interesting how the band actually incorporates so many different styles into their music – except sounding a lot like many of the classic Power Metal bands, such as Savatage or Primal Fear, songs by Solitude also have some elements of Punk Rock to them; this mainly concerns the drums. As much as some orthodox Metal fans might not like that, that type of drumming adds a lot of catchiness and groove to the music. It may not be the most proper thing to do circle pits to, but just to enjoy? Most definitely. Less is more, as some would say. The same thing can be said about the singer who’s probably never going to be another Dio or Rob Halford, but his powerful and angry vocals match the music just perfectly.

There’s also one instrumental track on Reach For The Sky – it is the fifth track which is called “Escape For The Crime” and those who like Iron Maiden, especially songs the albums The Number Of The Beast or Powerslave will most likely notice that it sounds like a medley of several compositions from the aforementioned albums by the London lords of Metal.

The last and the longest (almost nine minutes) composition on the album, “December,” is probably the most interesting one. No, it’s nowhere near as melodic and catchy as “Blow” or the third track which is also the title one. But what makes it stand out from the crowd of eight songs is that can’t really be compared to any song by a different band.

Overall, Reach For The Sky is a very good record and those who want the old school Rock music back should at least like it. It’s just a shame that the band seems to have rather little of own style that would make them unique. Yes, it is quality music, but it sounds more like a tribute to the bands from three or four decades ago rather than something fresh. Still, these guys are worth keeping an eye on.