Here’s our first Review of I Promise to Thrash Forever thanks to Eileen Bate for the great review.
You know that feeling when you first put an album on and you’re wondering what fate could possibly await your ears? Then you hear it and you’re relieved to hear that it’s beyond awesome? That, exactly that, is the feeling I experienced when Solitary’s album, I Promise to Thrash Forever, began. The four-piece from Preston recently recorded this live album and I am so thankful it ended up in my hands.
The album opens with “Spineless”: a mighty track that bursts into life in a blaze of heavy guitars, gruff vocals, quick drumming and mighty bass. As listening to this was my first impression of the band, I am very happy to say I loved it. The energy is unbridled and the lyrics are clear. I hope Solitary maintain this through the album.
“Into the Pit” follows and my favorite things about the previous track continue. This track has some excellent guitar solos in as well as some great breakdowns. This continues into track three, “Predator”, which is about Peter Sutcliffe and, by way of to this song’s introduction, Richard Sherrington (vocals) exclaims “What a wanker!” before opening a storm of riffs.
“The Downward Spiral” begins with a slower tempo: a steady beat and more relaxed guitars. This is great because it shows that the Solitary do not need to go out of their way to speed everything up to add brutality. This is the kind of track you can imagine every soul in a packed venue moving too; whether head banging or dancing.
Tune number five, “Twisted” opens with a light tapping on the drums which induces a great example of musical juxtaposition when the, much loved, heavy guitars enter. The dynamic throughout “Twisted” is kept lively, even in the breakdown, and Roy Miller’s drumming is perfect within this track.
There is then a speech given from Richard Sherrington to the audience who were present at the time of this being recorded about the importance of live music; referring to the country’s music scene as “dying on its arse.” He goes onto say that the album is to make a piece of history as neither the venue they’re playing in, or the band may exist in ten years. The decline in amount of live music venues within the country has affected many of us so it adds to the feeling of inclusion from the band to the audience to have it mentioned.
After the speech, “No Reason” opens with a strong, solitary, bass line that is not something I hear very often but I do love it. The bass is such a powerful attribute to a band and a lot of the time it’s hidden away behind guitars and drums, so when it is perfectly audible, even for a few seconds, I feel it immediately adds a bit of flavor to the track.
“Unidentified” is a track I’d love to see live just for the crowd reaction as it’s another great one for moving about to. This is especially true at 1:46 when the beat becomes more solid and, therefore, perfect for movement. The speed picks up again after as if that beat was a warm up. Everything I have said of this song is also true of “Keep Your Enemies Closer” which features another game-changing beat at 3:57 to round up the song and features Richard inviting everyone to “get those heads moving.”
I’m glad Solitary included “Hatred” in this album, as it’s an opportunity to compare it to their newer material. This is my favorite track, it’s uncompromising and brutal with it’s sound and has so much happening in such a small amount of time. I can clearly hear all of the instruments and how well it all works together as well as the band’s passion for thrash which seems not to have dwindled in the twenty years they have been together. This song is epic.
The album ends with “A Second Chance” which is a great song to round off on; featuring bits where only the vocals, bass and drums and heard. This adds a different feeling to the rest of the songs and allows for the guitar to matter all the more and to make sure this song has it’s own distinctive points.
Every instrument gets to open a song in “I Promise to Thrash Forever” and I believe the musical diversity, which stem from this is a contributing factor to making this a great album. The whole thing is energetic and in your face (but in a good way, you want it to stay there) and every song shows that the band give 100% and fully understand and identify with the genre they have chosen to play within. I’ve said before that I love to drive to thrash metal but I think I might give this album a miss for that, purely because head banging ferociously on the motorway is never a great idea! Overall: “I Promise to Thrash Forever” is fantastic and it delivered on the unbridled energy and clear lyrics that I was hoping for.
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