If you've ever taken a look at the Wicked Metal Review Instagram account in the past, you may have noticed my posts about speed metal before. Well, I love speed metal. I think it's fast, uncompromising and a hell of a lot of fun. Front-woman Amy Lee Carlson of Pacific Northwest based SÖLICITÖR has similar thinking, "The future is fast. Keep it nasty, keep it mean.” Thankfully, that's exactly what this fledgling band does extremely well. The album has a raw sound to it, not quite by design as due to many conflicts the band had to make fast decisions in between shows, snowstorms and travel time between Portland and Seattle.
Carlson takes to the mic in a strong way, with soaring vocals at times, then attacking you with vicious bits here and there. The guitarists keep it true with classic inspired riffs. On track one, Blood Revelations, we are greeted with a wall of sound immediately, followed by a timeless guitar riff and shortly after Carlson comes in with what will soon, I'm sure, be her well known high-register howl. After that, SÖLICITÖR kicks off and you better buckle up, or fall of the ride.
Track five, Night Vision, comes in a hell of a lot softer with acoustic guitars right up front weaving between each other. It stays in that same vein for a little over a minute, then it builds back up into the fierce frenzy once again. Through the whole record, SÖLICITÖR finds way to surprise the listener while staying true to the fundamentals of speed. Spectral Devastation is an excellent debut, showcases their strengths and that they're not afraid of taking risks, and it pays off. If you'd like to pre-order or check out their previous demo, their Bandcamp will be linked below. Spectral Devastation releases the 24th of April. I'm excited to see what else they can do when they have some proper studio time in the future!
I'm giving Spectral Devastation an 8/10
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