Solanum: I.T.S.C.

Having released a 'split' with Epidemic, I.T.S.C. (which I'm guessing takes its name from the song "Into The Sinners Circle/Righteous Refusal") is the first full length effort from Canada's Solanum. Purveying a punky thrash crossover, the influences come through thick and fast, early Anthrax, a little bit of Suicidal Tendencies and some vintage Megadeth keenly melded to Hatebreed or maybe Sick Of It All. Fast, furious, angry, shouty and in your face, "P.T.S.D." romps out of the speakers thanks to gritty deep guitars and some precise drum demolition. Hardly new in approach the energy and attitude sucks you in and arrests the senses. However by the time the simplistic, angered anguish creeps over five minutes, you're already left with the feel of 'I get it…'. And so it proves with a worryingly similar framework relied on throughout and continually stretched beyond its limits. There's a reason why most bands operating in this setting work to the theory of get in quick, gnarl and gnash frantically and then retreat sharpish having done as much damage as possible in the shortest space of time. Here however what should be short sharp raids, turn into full on wars of attrition and while faults are genuinely few and far between and each song brings fresh hope, the reliance on the same attack and its approach of elongating those ideas beyond their rightful duration, severely blunts the impact.

Solanum shows bags of promise on I.T.S.C. and quite an amount of talent, yet the biggest problem here is that once it's stopped spinning, it's a struggle to remember one single track. Hopefully album number two will find a much more focused approach.

Track Listing
1. P.T.S.D
2. Homicide Suicide
3. Strangled By Disease
4. Symptoms of Solanum
5. Into The Sinner Circle/Righteous Refusal
6. Narcotic Collapse
7. Beg For Your Life

Added: September 10th 2016
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Solanum on bandcamp
Hits: 1423
Language: english

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