Solace (band)

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Solace

Origin New Jersey, USA
Years active 1996 – Present
Genres Heavy rock
Heavy metal
Doom metal
Stoner Metal
Labels MeteorCity
Listenable
Land o'Smiles
Members Jason
Rob Hultz
Tommy Southard
Justin Daniels
Kenny Lund
Website(s) Die Drunk - The Official Solace Website

Solace is a Heavy rock band hailing from the Jersey Shore, USA.

Formed in 1996 from the ashes of Atlantic Records artist Godspeed, Solace is best known in the Stoner Rock genre, but as guitarist and founding member Tommy Southard has said "We’re not a stoner band, we’re a Rock ’n’ Roll band - a hard rock band, a Metal band."[1] The comparison of their albums to those of Black Sabbath, Queens of the Stone Age and Kyuss,[2] as well as their live performances at Stoner Rock festivals such as America's Emissions from the Monolith and Europe's Roadburn Festival, have rooted them deeply in this genre of Rock, however.

Contents

History

Godspeed years

In 1994, eastcoast rockers Godspeed were taken from their South Jersey basement and hurled into Electric Lady Studios to record their Atlantic Records debut album, Ride. Featuring future Solace members Tommy Southard and Rob Hultz, Godspeed's major label run included a cover of "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" for Nativity In Black: A Tribute To Black Sabbath with Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson, tours of the USA and Europe with Black Sabbath, Dio, Cathedral and Sugartooth, as well as a music video for their single "Houston Street" featured on MTV's Headbanger's Ball and Beavis and Butt-head.

The birth of Solace

Godspeed dissolved after just one album, but following stints as lead guitarist for both Sugartooth and Slap Rocket, Tommy reignited the band in 1996 with Rob and former Glueneck singer Jason, naming the revamped outfit Solace. After a 1997 demo, Solace released their self-titled 7" debut in 1998, followed by 1999's Distanced from Reality EP, a split with fellow New Jerseyans Solarized.

Close behind was their debut LP - 2000's Further. A cover by Metal art veteran Wes Benscoter (Slayer's Divine Intervention) hinted at darkness within the album, which was quickly considered a departure from the Stoner Rock pigeon-hole the band had already been put into.[3]

13 and beyond

2003 heralded the band's follow-up to Further - their second full-length album 13. Artist, fan and friend of Solace Paul Vismara lent the band his work for this album's cover. Considered by some to be musically superior to its predecessor,[4] 13 helped Solace further define themselves as more than simply Stoner Rock, assisted by the vocals and guitar work of doom metal legend Scott Weinrich (also known as Wino, formerly of The Obsessed, Saint Vitus, Spirit Caravan) on the track Common Cause.

In addition to the release of 13, 2003 saw their song "Indolence" used on the soundtrack of the popular video game Tony Hawk's Underground. This year also saw the band finally cement their line-up with former Lethal Aggression drummer Kenny Lund and the addition of second guitarist Justin Daniels. With this new line-up, they entered the studio once again in 2004 to record Hammerhead, a split EP with Albany, NY's Greatdayforup.

Solace's half of this split EP was rereleased on vinyl in 2006. In the interim, they were in the studio working on tracks for their next release, A.D..

Bad luck

From early in their career, Solace has been faced with almost mysterious problems. The band had an estimated 8 different drummers between 1996 and 2003[5] and suffered through supposed splits with vocalist Jason. Even seemingly random accidents - one resulting in the destruction of the original master tapes to their sophomore album 13 - vexed the band.[6]

This curse seemed to be lifted at least somewhat in 2003, but returned only a year later when drummer Kenny was diagnosed with cancer. All of the band's plans were halted, including a new recording contract with independent label Century Media. This set-back did not stop them from returning to the studio once Kenny recovered in 2005 to begin work on their as-yet unreleased album A.D. Later that year, the band faced yet another hurdle - this time in the form of undisclosed personal problems - and were forced to cancel a coast-to-coast US tour.[7] This heralded the start of a hiatus that lasted months.

Solace today

In April 2006, Solace regrouped and headed to Europe for Holland's Roadburn Festival. Upon their return, they strengthened their resolve further toward a new release. The band went into the studio to finish A.D. in time for a May 2007 European tour, only to realize that their creation was simply too vast for a single album. Four tracks were selected for release as The Black Black, which has been completed and is being pressed to coincide with the European tour.

Line-up

  • Tommy Southard - Guitar (Formerly of Prunella Scales, Slap Rocket, Godspeed, Social Decay, Sugartooth, etc.)
  • Justin Daniels - Guitar
  • Kenny Lund - Drums (Formerly of Lethal Aggression)
  • Rob Hultz - Bass (Formerly of Godspeed, Lethal Aggression)
  • Jason - Vocals (Formerly of Glueneck)

Former members

  • John Proveaux - Drums
  • Bill "Bixby" Belford - Drums
  • Matt Gunvordahl - Drums
  • Keith Ackerman - Drums (Currently of The Atomic Bitchwax)

Discography

Albums

Compilations

  • Stone Deaf Forever, Red Sun Records, 1999
  • Judge Not, Underdogma Records, 2000
  • Doomed, The Dark Reign Records, 2000
  • Where the Bad Boys Rock, People Like You Records, 2001
  • The Mighty Desert Rock Avengers, People Like You Records, 2002
  • MeteorCity Hellacious 2002 Sampler, MeteorCity Records, 2002
  • Rebirth of the Heavy, Volume 2, Music Cartel Records, 2004
  • Burn the Street, Daredevil Records, 2005

Tribute albums

Videography

  • "Die Drunk", Ambrosia Path Productions, 2006
  • "Cement Stitches", Ambrosia Path Productions, 2006
  • "Hungry Mother", Ambrosia Path Productions, 2006
  • Solace: The Videos - Volume 1, Ambrosia Path Productions, 2006
  • Solace: Roadburn, Ambrosia Path Productions, 2006

Other media

External links

References

  1. ^ http://www.lollipop.com/archive_temp.php3?content=issue52/52-02-08.html
  2. ^ http://www.meteorcity.com/027.htm
  3. ^ http://www.meteorcity.com/010.htm
  4. ^ http://www.allmusicguide.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=&sql=10:9l1m963ohep6
  5. ^ http://www.monolith.gr/interviews/html/solace.html (Number of different drummers from 1996-2003 has been estimated from as little as 7 to as high as 12)
  6. ^ http://www.lollipop.com/article.php3?content=issue61/solace.html
  7. ^ http://www.ninehertz.co.uk/news.php?id=136
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