By: Jay Hampshire
Album Type:
Full
Length
Date Released:
01/02/2018
Label:
Independent
Solleme conjure an unholy racket, but one that is woven and crafted
with a keen eye. ‘This Infinite Violence’ might well see your play count
stretching into the infinite too.
“This Infinite Violence” DD track listing:
1.
Cost Of Conviction
2.
This Infinite Violence
3.
Dolore Fra Noi
4.
Sanguine Earth
5.
Bide
6.
VI
7.
In Suffering
The Review:
For
a city so synonymous with cheerful positivity and acceptance, Brighton is
currently producing some of the rawest and most desolate heavy music around.
Genre-confine-bucking triumvirate Solleme’s sound might
be difficult to pigeonhole, but ‘desolate’ at least begins to convey the void black
undercurrent of bleakness that suffuses their debut album ‘This Infinite Violence’.
And
it’s not an album that eases you in gently. Opener ‘Cost Of Conviction’ is like barrelling through a dimly lit
labyrinth, constantly shifting, the ground moving under your feet. From the
intro’s distance noise and sparse guitar that drifts like smoke, the calm
belies the growing storm that drops in as concrete-thick grinding chords and
lances of feedback. From this, racing blackened tremolo guitars spur things on,
more akin to the expansive blackgaze of Deafheaven than the
sweeping northern exposure of acts like Mayhem. The trio rip
into a driving, chugging groove, drums and guitar locked in mechanically tight,
before ending strong on one-two hammerblow chords.
The
title track encompasses doom influences, pillars of held chords interwoven by
spider-like atonal guitar notes and crashing cymbal hits. It’s unhurried,
lumbering at a predatory pace, lurching from one vitriolic riff to another. ‘Dolore Fra Noi’ (Pain Between Us)
broods with distant shrieks and uneasy, groaning feedback, the muffled shouts
materialising into a breathless warning from across the void.
‘Sanguine Earth’
lays down a thick foundation of rolling drum work before shrieked vocals firmly
establish the centre ground, guitars ambling in a class-edge sharp waltz as the
drums nail things in place. Things take on hardcore infused shape through a
breathless d-beat section before an abrupt end stops things dead. ‘Bide’ inhabits the distance, tolling
guitar notes ringing and echoing out until a feedback drenched riff barges in,
galloping into a strident chug, hefty kick drum hits used almost like
punctuation. ‘VI’s steady, slow
drums are surrounded on all sides by a shimmering, almost industrial
noisescape.
Finale
‘In Suffering’ whips away, carried
aloft by a pulsing black metal headwind, descending into a crawling, sludge
infused riff that opens out into creeping guitars. The band prove they can shift
dynamics on a dime, blindsiding with false endings, opening out to cast their
sounds into a seemingly infinite aural negative space. As the track slows and
winds down amid final throat ruining screams, there’s a sense of wearied
exhaustion that no doubt connects band and listener alike.
In
a scene creaking under the weight of the sheer number of formidable riffs,
where bands seek to channel as many disparate influences as possible, it’s rare
for an act to manifest both so effortlessly, and rarer still for this to happen
on a debut album. While drummer Fred and guitarist Sam’s musicianship lays
solid foundation, it’s vocalist Frank’s stunning delivery
that secures the final piece of the jigsaw. While not fully conveying his
magnetic live presence, the record still showcases his inhuman talent. There’s
a glut of heavy vocalists making all sorts of horrible noises, but few do it
with such tortured finesse, with such communicated emotion. Despite being
‘just’ a three piece, Solleme conjure an unholy racket, but one that is woven
and crafted with a keen eye. ‘This Infinite Violence’ might well see your play
count stretching into the infinite too.
“This Infinite Violence”
is available here
