Vicky
I don’t really know what I’m doing writing about this album. As you know, I’ve done reviews on quite a few LPs, but never on something belonging to the Speed Metal genre, even though I sometimes (actually, rarely, to be more precise) listen to this type of music. I hadn’t heard about Sölicitör myself before getting this album, so I’m feeling a little superior at the moment and I want to share some wisdom. Long story short, Sölicitör released their debut album, the quite cool Spectral Devastation, back in 2020, and this new LP is more dynamic and overall better. I’m not saying that, the band members are. I can’t really afford to make any comments here since I’m not exactly your average 1980s type of music aficionado.
Alright, now let’s get this leather filled Speed Metal party started! The first track, “The Descent”, kind of sounds like “Open My Grave” by Rage or even “Wherever I May Roam” by Metallica, which is not the worst thing ever, but it doesn’t really scream out “original” either. Honestly, this entire album initially made me think that perhaps someone took out the best of early Judas Priest and combined it with Running Wild, Rage, Primal Fear, Stravaganzza, Opera Magna, and Accept. In other words, Sölicitör combines the velocity of Heavy Metal with the intensity of German Speed Metal, the fury of Spanish Power Metal, and sometimes the (good) paranoia of American Thrash Metal. The result? Enemy in Mirrors.
In case I haven’t mentioned this before, the band is female fronted. This information came as quite a shock to me upon first hearing the song “Iron Wolves of War”, where lead vocalist Amy Lee Carlson is both a clean vocalist, and a growler. Sorry, but I can’t stress enough the resemblance of her clean voice on this song with Rob Halford’s vocals. However, the album can get quite repetitive at times. Eventually, that’s alright given the fact that both the instrumentalists, and Amy are talented and they can whip up some pretty good songs.
The highlight of this album is without a doubt the track “Spellbound” (the fourth song, to those who can and wish to count). The beginning reminded me a little bit of “Nothing Else Matters” (I have a feeling I don’t even need to mention the artist, you’ve probably already left the article because that’s what you do out of reflex when someone mentions that song).
Please don’t get me wrong though, Sölicitör is about to release a very solid record that I’m sure all you Speed/Heavy/Thrash Metal listeners are just going to love. I won’t ask what the enemy was doing inside of those mirrors, nor how it got there, but I’ll tell you this: Sölicitör’s enemy is good sounding, and I for one hope that I’ll hear it again. Maybe in under five years this time? One can at least hope.
Label: Gates of Hell Records
Release date: 19 September, 2025
Website (needless to say, the immortal Bandcamp): https://solicitor-speedmetal.bandcamp.com/
Country: USA
Score: 3.7/5.0
Metal Eclipse Reviews 