hear new Sölicitör music now; album out 24 April 2020

On their first studio album, Spectral Devastation, Sölicitör takes a no-holds-barred approach to create several future speed metal anthems!

“The future is fast. Keep it nasty, keep it mean.” Such are the words from Sölicitör frontwoman Amy Lee Carlson, encapsulating the fireball that is their first full-length studio album, Spectral Devastation. Since their 2018 formation, the Seattle-based band has been honing their speed/thrash hybrid to be dynamic and unpredictable. As such, their take-no-prisoners, almost ruthless approach pays dividends across Spectral Devastation, an album that builds upon their well-received debut EP 2019 and casts them as one of America’s most exciting new speedsters.

Recorded in late 2019 and early 2020 at Hangar 12 Studios with Cody J. Brumlow, Sölicitör found themselves under the gun to complete the album. By virtue of regular show/tour obligations, travel time between Portland and Seattle, as well as a snowstorm that locked the band out of the studio for several days, the members of Sölicitör (completed by the guitar tandem of Matthew Vogan and Patrick Fry, bassist Damon Cleary-Erickson and drummer Johann Waymire) threw the proverbial caution to the wind when completing the tracking for Spectral Devastation — instead of spending countless hours overthinking arrangements, they trusted their gut instincts. This condensed timeframe allowed Sölicitör to emerge with an album that goes in several different directions while remaining true to the band’s speed metal foundation.

Spectral Devastation catches Sölicitör sharpening some of the elements that were developed on EP 2019: dual guitar harmonies, double-tracked vocal melodies, gang vocals and dynamic drum beats, while further incorporating darker, more melodic guitars while maintaining their trademark speed and technicality. But rather than immediately be put into a box with their sound, Sölicitör took the early opportunity to spread its sonic wings by utilizing cleaner guitars that are found on what could be the closest thing to a ballad the band will ever write.

Out front is Carlson, who, throughout Spectral Devastation, pushes the limit of her upper-register, bringing forth call-and-response harmonies in “Betrayer” as well as the album’s undisputed anthem, “Terminal Force.” The album’s lyrical scope is best represented in “Spectres of War,” where gang vocals shout “War, famine, pestilence, death — empire's fall, now draw your last breath!” It is a lasting reminder that Sölicitör is capable of delivering metal with great hooks and catchy choruses that will elicit whip-lashing and headbanging. And, one last thing: Speed kills.

SÖLICITÖR - Betrayer

solicitor-speedmetal.bandcamp.com/releases