Vorph 

Vocals & Guitar

Xy Drums/Keys/Programming
Makro 

Guitar
Mas 

Bass

review by Matthew "Newbreed99" Haumschild___ 

For fuck sakes why can’t he do this in more songs!

This was one of those albums I’ve had to listen to more than a few times to garner up some sort on an opinion. I’ve had this album in my possession about a week after it came out. At first, I didn’t know what to think of it. Solar Soul didn’t sound like their previous album Reign of Light, matter of fact, there weren’t any similarities whatsoever. SS reminded me more like Eternal than anything else. Solar Soul overall had it’s good moments but along with those good moments came some rather boring ones. 

According to the message boards I’ve read and the poll on their website, the title track, Solar Soul is the best song on the track. The funny part about this song to me, it sounds like a cross between a metal song, a march, and a bad Rammstein song. I thought it was a bit monotonous, it wasn’t as dynamic as the band has been in some of the other tracks they’ve done. The song is sung up in chops, which is normal for Samael, but it was different this time around, Vorph tried to sing them in a way that it would be catchy. I admit, I bob my head when I listen to the song, but most of the time, I just turn to the next track.

My favourite song on the album is definitely Slavocracy. It’s much more dynamic than the first track. Slavocracy blends more electronics in this song more so than the othr two tracks and it makes it sound “rave” like. It also has an Asian feel to it, maybe because of the sitar in the background? The song is very theatrical but the problem with that, is the fact that within a span of 3 minutes and 31 seconds it goes from fast to mid-pace, back to fast again, then slow, then back to the opening theme again. I thought this song could have been more intense. 

Of all the songs on this CD, On The Rise sounds like it could have been placed on either their Eternal or Passage CDs. It’s a little simpler in beats. And the lyrics are sung with the same reverb effect found on those CDs. Not to mention Vorph is screaming in the same fashion on this track as he does on those prospective albums. The programming for the keys seemed simple and straight forward until I sat and listen to all the layers, it’s not a bad track overall, a little on the undynamic side, but that’s typical of Samael. 

Quasar Waves contains a bit more of the Indian and Middle Eastern influence with sitar and conga content of this song. The song starts out completely different than how it ends. It sounds kind of “weak” but it ends up a strong metal song in the end. I felt those other instruments gave the song that extra dynamic that Samael hasn’t really had in this album. The lyrics are catchy, the beat is catchy, I just I knew what the title of the song means. 

The best singing on this album is on Architect. I also consider it the most underrated song on the CD that most of the fans seem to overlook. There are aspects of this song that give it more life than all the other songs. There are more guitar layers on song along with better keyboard arrangements. It’s a straightforward song, not fast but more on the slow side, but what makes this track so unique and what got me hooked to it, is the singing. In addition to Vorph's monotonous growling, he actually sings on this song! And he sounds great! For fuck sakes why can’t he do this in more songs! It sounds like he’s singing from the top of a cliff to the people below. I get more imagery from this track than any other on the CD, it’s just a shame it’s overlooked by a lot of fans. 

Quality:

I felt the overall sound quality was a little dry and little cold sounding. It sounded way too manufactured. It’s as if they didn’t bother recording real drums this time around. The bass was there, but it sounded like it was phoned in. What that means to everyone outside the US, it means that it sounded like the bass sound, was weak. Nothing wrong with the actual playing itself, but the quality in which it was recorded was somewhat pathetic. It just seemed too polished to me. 

Overall, I felt the CD wasn’t as dynamic and diverse as Reign of Light was. It’s hard to top that CD I know but this wasn’t even close. It was mostly too straightforward. I’m not sure hoe much of this is the bands fault, in a way, I blame the producer, whomever that was. Would I recommend Solar Sun? I’m not sure. If they come out for singles for the songs I’ve mentioned above, yes. But I felt bored throughout the CD, waiting for something good to come on. This wasn’t even close to Reign of Light. It pains me to write this because Samael is one of my favourite bands and at first I really liked this CD, but I got bored of it quickly. 

rating: 6/10

Matthew Haumschild is a staff writer/editor for gryphonmetal.ch since 2002

He is based out of Minneapolis Minnesota USA he can be reached at matthaumschild@yahoo.com and  on facebook.com  

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