SOLOTHUS - Summoned from the Void LP

DOOMENTIA and SOLOTHUS go way back, years before those Finns got signed to 20 BUCK SPIN and laid waste all over Europe in 2022 while promoting their third full-length, Realm Of Ash And Blood. In 2016, DOOMENTIA already had the privilege to release their previous album No King Reigns Eternal and to many, this was their first ever encounter with what is now regarded as one of Europe most impressive and faithful follower of the early 90’s classic death/doom sound. Albeit one as much indebted to the 80’s heavy-metal tinged style of CANDLEMASS as to the early crushing madness of ASPHYX or CIANIDE, as if we needed a reminder that the tag ‘doom/death’ included the word ‘DEATH’. But we should give credit where credit is due. SOLOTHUS’ stratospheric career was initially kickstarted by 2013’s Summoned By The Void, originally released on CD only in 1,000 copies by Spanish powerhouse MEMENTO MORI and now available for the first time ever nine years on LP version, with a stark and bleak reinterpretation of the original artwork by esteemed Spanish artist Juanjo Castellano, already responsible for No King Reigns Eternal cover. What’s most striking about this cruder yet no less powerful recording by the band’s original line-up is how well-versed in the art of epic structures and crushing mid-tempos they already were. As suggested by the dreamy organ/acoustic guitar introduction known as “Frostbane Overture”, far from the expected occult-obsessed or tales of misery, those Finns instantly take you here far away in a mystic and dark world full of wizards, cosmic forces and dark tales. It’s no coincidence that this five tracks and 43 minutes long first impressive recording pinnacle turns out to its final and crushing track “Upon Shattered Lands”, where frontman Kari Kankaanpää screams at the sky that he’s aptly been “Destroyed by Death/Possessed by Doom”… So let yourself be summoned by the void once more!