Solothus - Realm of Ash and Blood (2020)^{Release ID: 18413}

As I get round to catching up on some 2020 releases (having actively taken some time away from the pursuit of keeping up with new releases) I am surprised at the quality of what I have missed thus far in some quarters.  Not that Realm of Ash and Blood looks set to make any end of year list for me this year, it still is one of the more assured and confident releases of the year that I have come across.

With there being very little margin for invention and creativity in the death/doom genre, Solothus for the most part stick to delivering a familiar and very accomplished record that any fan of the sub-genre would lap up.  The record ticks a lot of boxes without ever coming off as being arbitrary or simply going through the motions. It sticks to a well known formula, seeking to express its quality in the common boundaries of the sound of that formula whilst also ensuring there's enough groove to proceedings to prick the ears of the most ardent listener.

As a fan of the Finnish sound of dm the band certainly do great justice to their homeland with nods to Hooded Menace, Rippikoulu and even Krypts along the way.  But there's also smatterings of Runemagick along the way to take the band's sound further afield.  Progressing through seven tracks the album feels neat and concise despite its obvious leanings toward music that traditionally follows a longer running time.  Over nearly forty three minutes the album ebbs and flows nicely, often opting for a five minute format overall with a two minute instrumental to break the trajectory up slightly alongside longer tracks such as The Gallow's Promise  and the closing ten minute track A Rain of Ash.

A solid effort and one that gives me much hope for their next release.

Crushing doom metal riffs born of death metal brutality with throaty, growling vocals likely to make your cat shit itself, this is genuine death doom, not merely traditional doom with bolted on growly vocals. It is medium-paced stuff pretty much throughout and as such is a little monolithic, a couple of old Autopsy / Winter quicker bits would have been nice and pushed it to a higher rating, but it is really well done and shouldn't disappoint any discerning death doom afficianado.