Solstice Coil Natural Causes- 2011
RMR Album Rating- 7

It’s always nice for an album to surprise you, especially when it exceeds the quality and style preconceptions that you had fabricated for it before actually hearing it.

I was expecting Solstice Coil’s second release “Natural Causes” to be a decent prog metal album performed in the style of Dream Theater. I had based my assumptions on two facts. First, I knew that Solstice Coil were Dream Theater fans. Secondly, before I had really spent any time with the album, I had listened to the first two tracks a few times, and they are undoubtedly prog metal tracks inspired by Dream Theater, especially the second track, “Outcomes Inevitable.” It’s a great 2-minute instrumental track that reminds me of Dream Theater’s “Dance of Eternity.” Both songs have very playful piano sections that transition into great heavy progressive metal sections. To me, there is a connection between the two songs, but in Solstice Coil’s defense, it is certainly not a bad thing to have a song compared to Dream Theater’s “Dance of Eternity,” especially when you can do it in about 2-mintues.

Click here to listen to Solstice Coil’s  Outcome Inevitable
Click here to listen to Dream Theater’s The Dance Of Eternity

However, circling back to my opening comments, this album really did surprise me–because aside from the first two tracks, it is much more of an alternative prog album than a prog metal album. There are definitely elements of prog metal laced through the entire release, but there are equal elements of alternative rock as well, which make this album sound completely unique. In addition to Dream Theater, I can hear traces of IQ on the prog front, and Radiohead, Muse and A Perfect Circle on the alternative front.

Now with all these influences being cited, I do want to make an important point. This album doesn’t sound overly derivative. In fact, it’s the exact opposite; it sounds completely unique. If a band draws its influence too heavily from just one band, then they end up sounding like a cheap rip off of that band, but if a band puts all their influences into one pot and stirs them up, they really end up creating their own sound, and that is exactly what Solstice Coil did with “Natural Causes.”

As for the songs, I already mentioned the double punch of the first two songs: “Question Irrelevant” and “Outcome Inevitable,” which are great prog metal tracks. I also really like “Moral Oxidation,” which features absolutely phenomenal guitar work from Opher Vishnia and loads of pace changes to keep the track moving (Click here to listen to Moral Oxidation). Then you have the centerpiece of the album, and my favorite track “Walking Graveyards.”  Shir Deutch’s vocals sound great throughout the whole album, but “Walking Graveyards” is really his shining vocal moment. The song starts off as ballad, but it shifts back and forth between soft and metal sections, and the combination of Shir’s vocals and Opher’s heavy guitar riffs really drive the song and make it a complete home run (Click here to listen to Walking Graveyards).

All in all, Solstice Coil’s “Natural Causes” turned out to be a complete winner for me. Their brand of alternative progressive rock is completely unique, and it is completely different from what most progressive bands with a penchant for metal are doing. I really hope they continue to balance their alternative and progressive tendencies and continue to explore the alternative side of their sound. They are certainly a band to keep an eye on, and they are definitely one of the best bands that you’ve never heard of.

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(2 reader ratings, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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