Solstice Coil

I don't often receive releases from Israel, so when i have an album from this country i am always extra curious to hear the music. I have heard from black metal to doom metal and now the turn is Solstice Coil. The band recently released their newest album with the title "A prescription for paper cuts" and they have included nine tracks and about fifty minutes of pure melodic, progressive metal music. Solstice Coil worked on this album for over two years and you can see by the development of their compositions which are excellent. Of course the style that they have to follow isn't the easiest to hear but if you pay attention you will see the beautiful world from Solstice Coil. Believe me i didn't expect to receive such good album; i think in the end of this year i will hear all the surprises. I am sure that the big progressive labels should check this band and to signed them in order more people to have the chance to hear the stuff from Solstice Coil. I am really happy that i have this opportunity and believe me the fans of progressive music will adore Solstice Coil. Well done guys. - Antonis Maglaras

Plenty of stage presence from Israel’s Solstice Coil; the vocalist/ guitarist cuts a striking figure with his black pork-pie hat, white shirt and red tie, not to mention bizarre stage moves (for the British readers – he reminded me of Liverpool comedian Alexei Sayle in his Young Ones appearances). His band mates all seem to be enjoying the experience too. Musically this is quite interesting; probably best described as gritty neo-prog flavoured with middle-eastern folk influences. - TOM DE VAL

L’Israël est un pays en train de m’épater. Après Eatliz que j’ai vraiment apprécié, voici que Solstice Coil me contacte pour que je chronique leur premier album sorti en 2005. Et je dois dire qu’il est bon, très bon même. Qui aurait cru qu’en Israël, le métal et le rock avait une place ?

2001 fut l’année de la naissance du groupe. 4 ans plus tard, leur premier album, A Prescription For Paper Cuts à vu le jour en Septembre et à reçu d’excellentes critiques de par le monde. On retrouve Shir Deutch (Lead vocals, guitars), Yaniv Shalev (Bass), Opher Vishnia (Lead guitar, vocals), Shai Yallin (Keyboards, vocals), Yatziv Caspi (Drums).


Totalement autoproduit, A PrescriptionFor Paper Cuts propose un son du tonnerre. Que demander de mieux afin d’apprécier amplement un album ? Préparez-vous à faire un voyage étonnantentre Radiohead, Muse, King Crimson, Dream Theater, TheMars Volta, Dredg, Oceansize, Pain of Salvation, ou encore Porcupine Tree. Mais attention, même si ces groupes influences la musique de Solstice Coil, ils arrivent à avoir une personnalité propre. Entrez dans leur monde et découvrez leur musique teintée de Rock Progressif et Alternatif. Découvrez leur musique sophistiquée, leurs riffs de guitare solides, et découvrez la voix de Deutch vraiment sublime.


« Photosensitivity » ouvre la bal avec un piano sensible. Titre rappelant un peu de MOPA guitare et basse en plus. Un peu de saxophone viendra renforcer le côté ultra mélodique du morceau. Deutch y offre une voix vraiment superbe. Il arrive à monter dans les aigus et descendre dans les grave avec finesse. « Caveat Emptor » prendra le relais sur des airs mystérieux grâce à un dark ambiant aux accents indus. Est-ce un cœur qui bat que nous entendons ? En tout cas cet instrumental offrira une tension palpable à son auditoire. « Selling Smoke » offrira des accents Muse appuyés tandis que « Deep Child » partira sur des airs plus prog. Un peu d’orgue au programme !! « Even Poets Die » est un titre plus calme, très atmosphérique, plus sombre aussi, naviguant entre douceur et rythme plus rapide. A écouter sans modération tout comme « Accidents » qui offre des chœurs radieux.Vraiment sublime avec des instruments gras et lourds. Une réussite ! « EnjoyThe Ride » reste dans la lignée des autres titres. La mélodie est toujours très travaillée, le rythme toujours bien trouvé, les instruments très bien dosés, et la voix bien calibrée. Je m’envole avec Solstice Coil. Ils me font rêver, voyager. Mais reprenons nous, « Anyone Can Be » (A Porn Star) arrive. Ce titre doit détoner en live. On y retrouve toujours des airs de leurs influences. Mais ne vous y fiez pas, c’est très bon. J’adore les plages de guitares acoustiques. Un truc est sur, à la fin de ce morceau, ils doivent être bien fatigués car c’est rythmé à souhait. On termine avec « Brillance », qui offre un tempo assez lent. Violoncelle et tambour seront là pour notre plus grand plaisir.


Solstice Coil est une excellente découverte surtout quand l’on sait qu’à cette époque les musiciens étaient encore bien jeunes. De mon côté, il ne me tarde que de découvrir leur nouvel album Natural Causes prévu pour cette année !! - Par Angel

Vengono da Israele i Solstice Coil e propongono questo loro primo album, A Prescription For Paper Cuts in forma completamente gratuita, scaricabile quindi liberamente, gratuitamente e legalmente dal loro sito ufficiale.

Debut album quindi per questa band decisamente talentuosa, che propone un sound non completamente classificabile in canoni standard, sicuramente stiamo ascoltando sonorità Progressive Rock ma molto contaminate da momenenti più Psichedelici e momenti più assimilabili all'Alternative Rock, il talento e l'eclettismo sonoro sono indubbiamente le qualità maggiori dei 5 musicisti israeliani che non tradiscono e sopratutto non nascondono le proprie influenze stilistiche che vanno dai Radiohead ai Mars Volta dai Dream Theater ai Porcupine Tree, passando per i mostri sacri del Prog Rock come Yes, Genesis, King Crimson e VDGG o del Rock più psichedelico come i Pink Floyd.

Va anche sottolineato come A Prescription For Paper Cuts sia stato interamente scritto, suonato, registrato, mixato e prodotto dai membri della band, perfino il booklet interno, composto da un racconto grafico relativo al concept dell'album stesso è stato realizzato da Opher Vishnia, chitarrista del gruppo.

Il primo brano di questo debut è "Photosensitivity", caratterizzato inizialmente da ritmi lenti e da un piano ed una voce cupi e malinconici, il dinamismo arriva in crescendo con l'ingresso del sax e con giochi vocali in stile Gentle Giant.
Un intermezzo strumentale molto industrial è "Caveat Emptor".
"Selling Smoke" è aperta da un riff molto "aggressivo", quindi è nuovamente la voce di Shir Deutch a diventare protagonista, sino a sfociare in un turbinio psichedelico in cui si possono chiaramente percepire le sonorità spesso impossibilmente deliranti dei Mars Volta.
Decisamente più aperta e ariosa è "Deep Child", dalle sonorità decisamente più dure e potenti, con le chitarre, i loro riff ed i loro soli a dettare il ritmo.
Con "Even Poets Die" e "Accident" si rimane su sonorità sempre molto robuste e aspre sulla falsa riga del brano precedente.
"Enjoy the Ride" ci riporta a momenti più oscuri con suoni più eterei e introversi, con un finale che sembra arrivare direttamente da un album dei VDGG.
Senza dubbio la traccia più intricata ed intrigante, un grand finale, a mio parere la canzone più bella e più Progressive del lotto: "Anyone Can be ( a Porn Star )", capace di miscelare una melodia come detto molto intrigante e tecnicismi e soli di stampo Progressive, con la voce di Shir a danzare abilmente su questo crogiuolo di suoni.
Si chiude con Brilliance, un altro piccolo gioiellino dai vaghi echi medioevali, con gli archi a condire un sound molto pacato e delicato.

Un disco che non si assimila sicuramente al primo ascolto, un disco da meditare molto ma che una volta scoperto in ogni sua più nascosta nota non può che lasciare emozionalmente soddisfatto l'ascoltatore, un disco che colpisce il segno e lascia un discreto ricordo dietro di se.

Canzoni Segnalate: Photosensitivity - Selling Smoke - Deep Child - Anyone Can be ( a Porn Star ) - Brilliance - Salvatore Siragusa

It's not often that I review a band from Israel. Trespass was the first and last thus far. Now here we have Solstice Coil, who cite as their influences the big prog names from the past, but also Dream Theater, Radiohead, Muse and The Mars Volta. The band has existed since 2001, and this is their debut, recorded and produced wholly by themselves.
The music
Photosensitivity opens with sensitive piano play. The vocals of Deutch are on the high, ethereal side, echoey and slightly accented in places. There is a certain tension in this song, while the vocals go from high to low, a bit like with Muse, but less extreme. Then the powerful guitars set in, and the song obtains a strong drive, also from the saxophone. There are some surprising elements here: VDGG, Magma. An excellent beginning. Caveat Emptor is a short and dark instrumental, somewhere between dark ambient and industrial.

Tension is also to be felt on Selling Smoke, immediately from the opening guitar lines. The guitar is doubled, a wailing one comes to accompany the repetitive riff. In between we get question and answer singing (a bit Gentle Giantish), and the guitars can be quite heavy here. In the doubled vocal parts, the music is more ethereal, but the doubled vocals are that strong. From my first listens I remembered especially similarities to Radiohead, but to my ears, these seem to have gone now. The band is certainly more symphonic, a bit like Riverside, but more adventurous without giving up on good songs and melodies. The song has a powerful finale, with the vocalist going the direction of Muse, but with excellent backing vocals. Although I am reminded of the Belgian band The Same, the reference is likely to obscure to help anyone (sorry for that).

Deep Child is a bit more proggy still, largely due to the strong presence of organ. Later, the music tends to adventurous progmetal. Again, the band shows excellence on this song with some powerful, climactic progrock that does not owe much to anything, although can spot family ressemblances to the likes of Porcupine Tree and Muse.

Even Poets Die is a somber and relatively quiet tune, with subtle guitar work and the bass line repetitive and plainly audible in the other ear. Then the power sets in a bit more, and we obtain a noisy sound, a bit in the vein of the likes of American alternative rock. In between, the quieter passages are strongly atmospheric and slighly reminiscent of Radiohead. For the progpeople: we do get a keyboard solo towards the end, lined by some strong rolls on the drums. For the finale, the guitar goes all out, but we end in (s)low style.

Accidents opens lightly with repetitive play and a tragic vocalist. The first few minutes are relatively atsmopheric, but then the music is infused with energy, for instance by the drummer, and some female vocals that set in wailingly. Afterwards, the guitar takes the fore, repetitively, while the keyboard sound is really dated (but in a good way). The vocals are raw and aggressive here. Again, an excellent piece of work, rich in tension.

Enjoy The Ride is a moodier, softer track with tragic vocals. Again, I am reminded of The Same, because of the relatively alternative approach, and the use of many different voices in the vocals. The piano is the dominant element here, on this relatively quiet, but not easy track. At the end, the band takes a ninety degree turn, and the sax, drums and guitars make sure we have a pounding finale. Again, I am reminded of VDGG.

Anyone Can Be has the combination of acoustic guitars and a flamenco style, wailing electric guitar part. A sharp piece of music, somewhat psychedelic overall, with very proggy keyboard solo's. Brilliance is a stately piece, with rolling drums, and rather vague vocals. The song is among the softer ones, slightly ethereal even with vibes and some nice cello to establish the ambiance.
Conclusion
This band lies somewhere between some relatively popular bands in the rock genre: Anathema, Porcupine Tree and Muse. In between, the band has not forgotten its heritage from the past and I hear echoes of VDGG and even Magma. The end result, is a progrock take on Muse, but with the songwriting style of bands like Porcupine Tree and Anathema (including progmetal guitars). Their are pure pieces of symphonic rock as well, including a number of full keyboard solo's. The music is rich in tension, richer than for instance Porcupine Tree, and not as over the top, vocally for instance, as Muse. As such, I expect this band to make quite a name for itself in the near future. Hopefully, a good label will pick them up, or at least I hope their album will have the right distribution. - Jurriaan Hage