Solanum – Judge-Mental

After releasing a full-length a couple years ago, Winnipeg’s Solanum has returned with an EP follow-up. “Judge-Mental” is a short offering that sums up exactly what Solanum is about in 4 tracks. The band plays a loose brand of crossover thrash, focused on punky rhythms and catchy songs. Though their tracks might run a tad longer than what most other crossover bands are doing, Solanum has no problems sustaining 4-minute songs. Each of the songs moves along at a speedy pace, offering a feast of riffs and hooks.

The clear highlight is the opener, “High Class”. The chorus of this song is an interesting instance where the riff is as catchy as the vocals that accompany it. It is built around a repeating pattern of notes (almost like a slow trill) that is absurdly memorable. It helps that the singer's shouts of “High! Class!” are perfect to yell along to. Both this riff and many of the later ones on this song (and EP) show significant influence from punk, with some wonky note choices. Relative to what many other thrash bands play, Solanum’s riffs are very unique. They’re a little more complex than punk, so they’ll be satisfying to the average crossover fan.

Another element of this release that stands out is the exceptional bass playing. Tracks like “It’s Getting Darker” and “High Class” instantly introduce you to the band’s bassist, who adds a touch of fuzz to his sound to create a distorted low end. This helps add to the punk feel, and the fuzz also contributes to the imperfect production the band has. Anything cleaner would sound too sterile for this type of band, and avoid the sound that Solanum was trying to achieve. 

Relative to the band’s previous work, I foresee “Judge-Mental” as being the release I’ll be returning to the most. Whether you’re new to the band or have heard their previous album (and split in my case), “Judge-Mental” stands tall as being the best point of entry, and a promising indication of the band’s future direction.

Be sure to check out and like Solanum on Facebook!

Highlights

"High Class"

"It's Getting Darker"

Final Rating

4.2/5 or 84%. 

Written by Scott

Solanum – Into The Sinner Circle

Following a split release earlier this year, Canada’s Solanum have returned with their first full-length record: “Into The Sinner Circle”. Things have been tightened up a bit since then, making this album an effective thrashing that is sure to incite furious headbanging. As you may have guessed, this album is an endless cacophony of riffs, each one being more visceral than the last. Though Solanum’s overall sound is more comparable to crossover acts, many of their riffs are also straight ahead thrash, providing flashbacks to a record like “Darkness Descends”. One great example is at the end of “Strangled By Disease”, where there is an insane breakdown riff that is probably the highlight of the entire record.

The crossover elements previously noted are most evident in the vocals. Solanum’s singer takes the hardcore approach of yelling like a madman, often at insane speeds. In contrast to this, however, the songs are pretty long, which makes “Into The Sinner Circle” a lot less vocal-driven than other similar sounding records. Nevertheless, the band manages to write parts that are easy to latch onto. One such example is the chorus of the opening track, “P.T.S.D.”, which, unsurprisingly, consists of the band’s singer yelling out those 4 letters in convincing succession. Screaming along to the title of “Symptoms of Solanum” is equally compelling.

One thing that catapults “Into The Sinner Circle” ahead of much of the competition is the bass playing. Yes, it is loud and audible, but that alone isn’t what makes it great. Instead, it is the fact that Solanum’s bass player always seems to pop out at the perfect moment, sometimes with a small fill, but also just to play a bit higher than the low rumble that dominates the rest of the songs. This approach complements the maniacal vocals and riffs.

“Into The Sinner Circle” is a cool release because it takes relatively common thrash themes and combines them in a unique way. Crossover/hardcore elements typically tend to dominate releases like this with short songs and politically charged lyrics, but Solanum instead adds punky elements to a more standard thrash approach, and the result is incredibly effective. Relative to the band’s previous release, this album shows a marked improvement, and is certainly a worthy purchase.

Be sure to check out and like Solanum on Facebook!

Highlights

"P.T.S.D."

"Strangled By Disease"

"Symptoms of Solanum"

Final Rating

4.0/5 or 80%. 

Written by Scott

Epi-demic/Solanum – Passages to Lunacy

“Passages to Lunacy” is a split that brings together two Canadian thrashers. First up is the 4-piece Winnipeg-bred Solanum. From the intro of “Friendly Civil Servant”, it’s pretty clear that we’re looking at high-end demo/low-end EP quality production. Things are relatively clear, but they don’t really sound all that full. Of course, once the thrashing starts about a minute in, none of that really matters. The band serves up a crossover-inspired sound that would not be out of place on a Cryptic Slaughter or D.R.I. record. This feeling primarily comes from the vocals, which are shouted out at rapid speed, and have a punk flare to them. The band’s riffs tend to be a bit more inspired than most crossover groups, as they occasionally work their way into more standard thrash territory. It also doesn’t hurt that the band varies up the tempos and avoids playing hyper-fast all the time (this is particularly evident on “Welcome To Our Homemade Hell”). Sometimes it feels like you might have heard a riff before, but there are few albums released over 30 years since the inception of thrash that avoid this problem. The only real flaw of Solanum’s side of the split is that these songs don’t have a lot of staying power. They would be incredibly fun live, or as something to drive to, but it’s hard to remember much of what goes on during this release.

Side 2 brings in Epi-demic, a Canadian trio who also worships those who thrash. The production is definitely worse than Solanum’s was, and it is noticeably quieter. This isn’t an awful thing on its own, but in the context of a split, the bands really should ensure their volumes are similar. Once you crank up the sound however, Epi-demic actually bring the heat even better than Solanum did. They too suffer from somewhat forgettable tracks, but they will catch your attention while the music is playing. Nevertheless, the groovy bass intro that opens this side of the split, combined with the crunching guitars that follow set the tone for a short, but sweet thrashing. Epi-demic’s singer is incredibly raw. You wouldn’t really expect him to be Canadian based on his voice, as it can sound pretty German at times. Nevertheless, he is a great fit for the chaos of the music, which even includes blast beats at times. On the whole, both bands definitely show a lot of potential, and with a bit more innovative songwriting (and better production), both could definitely be major players in the thrash scene. If you’re always on the lookout for up and coming bands, “Passages to Lunacy” is a must-buy.

Be sure to check out and like Solanum and Epi-demic on Facebook!

Highlights

All of it

Final Rating

3.5/5 or 70%. 

Written by Scott