Sole Remedy - Apoptosis
Aftermath Music
Atmospheric Prog Metal
10 songs (56:35)
Release year: 2010
Aftermath Music
Reviewed by Jaime
Sole Remedy are an interesting one. Hailing from Finland, they seem to be missing that sound that almost all of their fellow countrymen manage to have, eschewing it for something more along the lines of Tool or Pain of Salvation (sans the rock opera bullshit). It has a fair few American sensibilities about it musically, the riffs scream it with borderline nu-metal parts in some songs but don't let that put you off.

First song Comatose is practically an intro track due to its calm, ethereal nature that builds into the first of the heavier tracks Present Remorse which bounces along quite nicely with some pretty interesting guitar parts but is kind of repetitive, there's not much variation in structure. Leave is even more guilty of this and utilises those nu-metal riffs I mentioned earlier. The middle, clean part of the song is very 90's in sound and application which I'm not sure is a good thing. The intro to The Burden does help shake that feeling either, and sounds like something I used to listen to in about 2001. The song does seem to channel Last Fair Deal era Katatonia in vocal delivery at points which works well in those sections, but when you think about it that reiforces my point about the dated sound, as that album is almost 10 years old now. Ordeal would have been excellent if it only had the clean section at about 3:30 instead of two times before, but instead felt kind of clunky and, again, repetitive. Sole Remedy channel their pop sensibilites in The Undertow with awesome big choruses but the verses are so dull which is a shame as it upsets the rest of the song including a pretty cool wah guitar interlude and very nice solo (they should have more of those and less clean breaks!).

This brings us to the title track, an acoustic ballad which is on of the better songs on the album. But not before more unneeded clean guitar parts are fired on top. The song itself manages to avoid most of the problems the rest of the album has but sadly doesn't evade that one. And things pick up even moreso with the next track Wolf in Me which just thunders away before an acoustic break but has an energy that the first 3/5 of the album lacks. The songwriting on this songs is far stronger than the rest too which makes me wonder if it (and the song before) were written at a later date than the rest. Oh and that solo, God damn! Solace is another excellent track that just grabs hold of you from the off. The drumming in particular here is excellent and carries the song very well. The last track of the album starts of like something that kind of reminds me of Sentenced and is pretty powerful sounding. There is a fair gothic overtone to Past Decay on the whole, hell even the lyrics would slot into something akin to a Paradise Lost track and, as proven, makes me relate Sole Remedy to other Finnish bands.

I'm kind of at a loss here. The first half of the album is pretty mediocre and downright boring, but once the title track hits everything that follows is fantastic. It makes me wonder why though, as clearly these guys can write good songs based on the latter half and I hope that that is the way their planning to go. It's interesting to note as well that the last three songs are also the longest, but mannage to hold your attention far better than the rest. Had the band released an EP with the first track (as mentioned, it's like an intro) and the last four I'd be very impressed, but the remaining parts of the album drag them down and ruin the overall experience.
Killing Songs :
Apopotsis, Wolf in Me, Solace, Past Decay
Jaime quoted 73 / 100
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