Stinky - Solace Review • Strah

I am so sorry to inform my dear children of the night that there is no such thing as pure Metal music. This is a conjecture that makes absolutely no sense at all. From its early shine at the dawn of the 1970’s Metal music has been a hodgepodge of a myriad of influences – huh, this might be redundant. Well, whatever. It sounds so good. Okay, again to the point. Hardcore is one of the musical genres that have influenced Metal music the most. In a nutshell, there would be no Extreme Metal if Hardcore were not there. It is the blatant truth. Ironically, now, things are going just the other way around; it is Hardcore that is being heavily influenced by Metal music. Stinky with “Solace” proves e right. Better yet, it was “Solace” that lit that fire.

I was not able to find many info about the band, but Spotify says “their music is a perfect blend of melodic punk/hardcore with a metal edge. The band capably fuses melody with an affinity for violence.” I could not agree more, however, from where I’m standing, this Metal edge is bigger. It is so bigger that tracks as “Under Care” could be in any album of any Metalcore band from this sad and lonely and pathetic little planet. From another page, I got that Claire’s female vocals is a milestone within Hardcore bands so full of male vocals – and then they say Metal music is chauvinist. And that’s it. No more info. To some extent that’s the way Hardcore bands are.

“Solace” commences with “Down in the Dumps” whose intro could be in a Saxon, for instance, album as Metal influenced as it is. “Down in the Dumps” goes heavily down the Metal road, if I am allowed to say. The flamboyant drumming with blast beats is pure Death Metal plus the desparated vocals which could have come from Black Metal. From the special features Stinky present here it is possible to realize where they come from, for instance. Sick of It All are a hell of Melodic Hardcore, by the way, one of the pioneers. In a general manner, from where I’m sitting, there is very little of what I call or know about Hardcore. Of course, this does not mean jack because I know very few bands. From one hand, it is good to know where Hardcore is going; on the hand, this direction is not my favorite. Well, this, again, does not mean much.

Bottomline, I could say one thing; “Solace” is for modern listeners, if you all know what I mean.

Stinky “Solace” will be released on February 21st via M-Theory Audio!.

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