Guitar solos to break you and heal you part 3

Vicky

You’ve probably been waiting for my take on guitar solos, so here it is — but first, a quick intro. My musical taste spans from Pop Rock and Indie to Brutal Death and Black Metal, and my picks reflect that range, though I’ve kept the Black Metal to a minimum (I know not everyone’s a Burzum or Darkthrone fan). I could ramble endlessly about what makes a great solo—or why “Nymphetamine Overdose” by Cradle of Filth and Liv Kristine is, in my view, a more refined take on Symphonic Gothic/Black Metal than “Nymphetamine Fix”—but I’ll spare you the tangents and get straight to the list.

Rage – “Beauty” (Speak of the Dead)
This one is personal — deeply so. I’ve spoken before about my connection to Rage, to their entire body of work. I grew up with them, and that kind of bond doesn’t fade. But “Beauty” stands out — not because it’s louder or more aggressive, but because it’s not. It’s the final song of the “Suite Lingua Mortis” cycle on Speak of the Dead, and it trades Thrash theatrics for something gentler: life, bliss, the kind of emotional resonance you’d never expect from a former Thrash outfit turned Symphonic Power Metal force.

And then comes Victor Smolski. A Slavic counterpart to Vai or Satriani in terms of sheer technical gift, yet what sets him apart here is the emotional clarity of his playing. The solo in “Beauty” doesn’t just decorate the song — it revives it. It’s soft, luminous, a slow dance with the infinite. Each note feels like it was chosen with absolute care, as though Smolski were whispering something back to the world. A reminder, maybe, that this life, however fragmented or uncertain, holds value — if we dare to live it for ourselves. Carpe your diem, indeed.

Punisher – “Gates of Hell” (Frontline)
Here’s something raw — straight from the underground, where the sound is sharper and the stakes are personal. Punisher, a Romanian Thrash Death Metal band, doesn’t waste time with theatrics. In “Gates of Hell,” they tell a national tragedy: the fall of King Carol II, a king who chose indulgence over duty. It’s a tale of betrayal and collapse, and the music responds accordingly — vicious, venomous, unfiltered.

And then come the solos. Two of them. They’re not there to uplift — they’re there to wound. The guitar tone cuts through like iron against stone, all sharp edges and no apologies. The playing is tight, fast, and furious, but never chaotic — Ace and Denis (the latter joining post-release) guide us through emotional ruin with terrifying precision. What stays with you isn’t just the notes — it’s the feeling. The imprint they leave, etched deep. You’ll return to this track not because you want to — but because you have to. It sticks. It brands. This is the sound of Punisher — and it does not let go.

Clouds & Jón Aldará – “If These Walls Could Speak” (Doliu)
Some songs aren’t songs. They’re rituals. “If These Walls Could Speak” is one such invocation — a track soaked in grief, built on silence, and spoken in pain. Clouds, a collaboration across continents, brings together fragments of doom, death, and something more elusive — something sacred. The voice of Jón Aldará (of Hamferð, Barren Earth) delivers despair in operatic waves, rising from a bare piano passage into the slow suffocation of Death/Doom grandeur.

And then, Jarno Salomaa — of Shape of Despair — offers one of the most soul-wracking guitar solos the genre has ever known. It’s restrained, but vast; mournful, but majestic. The solo doesn’t simply accompany the song’s sorrow — it becomes it. It traces every syllable of grief, lifting you out of yourself just enough to look down, see the broken pieces, and begin to gather them. For a moment, this solo isn’t just sound. It’s shelter. And as the song fades and silence returns, you’re left wondering: if these walls could speak… would they say what you feel but cannot voice?

If you wish to know why I haven’t selected more good guitar solos, it’s because everything has already been said before. Meanwhile I’ve tried to find articles written about these three solos and the results were rather slim… As if no one has noticed the beauty of them before. Until we meet again, I hope your days are bright and sunny and that no apocalypse sets upon us all. Hope you like my three guitar solos.

That was all for now, dear folks.