Adversarial – Solitude with the Eternal

Have you wondered what it would feel like to let go? To give in to your darkest side and do something vile and unhinged? Something like waking up at three in the morning only to finish off that cold pizza that’s been in your fridge for a week. Well, Adversarial is returning from its long slumber with Solitude with The Eternal and is planning to put you through something just as appalling. Don’t believe it? Stay put!

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Solitude is ugly and unapologetic. It doesn’t care about your feelings and sounds like being thrown into a tornado of bricks. You might look at the cover art and think this is the typical retro-Metal album that comes out every few months, but no, Adversarial is trying to establish a bridge between the gross dissonances of Devenial Verdict and the sheer brutality of Diabolizer. Either way, there’s no time to waste because the album has no long tracks and tries to smother you in pitch layers and crush you with a road roller at the same time. That’s not an easy balance to achieve, but Adversarial manages to give it a rather unique feeling. However, you’ll have to pay attention, since Solitude is different when one focuses on the details. I suspect it wasn’t the intention, but Solitude does end up having an air of Lovecraftian cosmic horror. It makes you feel insignificant and hopeless in front of those forces that were here and will continue being after we become fertilizer.

Those powerful drums might distract you from the more subtle work the guitar does here and there. It’s not just violent riff after violent riff; there’s an attempt to create an atmosphere that makes you feel alone in a pit full of chaotic sounds that make no sense to your limited human mind. “Crushed into the Kingdom of Darkness” and “Merging Within the Destroyer” are good examples of how Adversarial can absolutely incinerate everything in its path, but also take its time to pressure-cook you. Though my personal favorite is “Death Is an Advisor in the Woods of the Devil” (the titles of these songs, people…), it has a dramatic edge I couldn’t find in the other tracks. Are you excited about all this destruction? Great, but there are a few setbacks.

I’m not sure if I enjoyed the production of Solitude. In fact, during my first listen, I was disgusted by how abrasive this thing was. C.S.’s vocals are such an overwhelming force that they’re not human anymore—it’s like another guitar was reverberating in the background, except this instrument was terrifying. It took a while to appreciate this. However, I do think that M.M.’s bass is a bit quiet in the mix; that’s the trade-off of having this cavernous sound. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t clumsiness; Adversarial wants to sound like a black hole swallowing a solar system (lo-fi for the nerds), but its production decisions aren’t the easiest to accept.

Finding an album that balances all these different styles in such a grotesque way is a true merit on its own. Adversarial also does this without being derivative or speculating more than you on a conspiracy subreddit. If you’re ready to be uncomfortable, then you’re ready for Solitude.

Label: Dark Descent Records

Release date: May 31, 2024

Website: https://www.facebook.com/AdversarialOfficial

Counrty: Canada

Score: An infinite fall into the dark, or 4.0/5.0 if you need hope