Polite society will always mandate a certain decorum and civility from human beings. But hey, human beings are animals and will always resist these lame domesticating demands. Some bands embody this rebellious energy better than others, but none can lay claim to it any better than Seattle’s
Solicitor. This sleazy speedball of freebasing proto-thrash is here to rocket clean up your nose and out the back of your skull with their debut album
Spectral Devastation, a potent cocktail of Chastain, Liege Lord, and
Painkiller-era Judas Priest. Solicitor formed out of the ashes of another Northwestern band, the motley space warriors Substratum. For their debut release on Gates of Hell Records, Solicitor demonstrates that they are willing to dig into the darker, eviler side of their influences, making plenty of room for Tyrant’s Reign and Merciful Fate to ride shotgun on their road trip to hell. Opener “Blood Revelations” has caustic punk energy, while the blitzing “Betrayer” embraces a mythic Iron Median-esque quality to its rollicking grooves and soaring vocal melodies, “Night Vision” steps deftly into black metal territory with an ancient-sounding acoustic intro before acidic toned guitars rush into to wash the flesh from your bones, “Terminal Force” features ripping cross-over thrasher riffs with power-metal vocals, and the bone pulverizing dive of “Spectres of War” locks in that Painkiller vitality on the second half of the album.
Spectral Devastation leans into harder material than most speed metal bands, but their courting of true death and mayhem makes for a listening experience that is as absolutely harrowing as it is exhilarating.
Get a physical copy of
Spectral Devastation,
here.
