Hands Of The Gripper

Damn. Somewhere along the line I forgot all about everything I was meant to be doing (Like updating this regularly and all that "professional" bollocks) and got sidetracked with other more urgent matters (Like actually taking stock of what material is on the partial song tapes). As most people will be aware now, we have a new vocalist. And so, officially, we would like to welcome Mr. Paul Kearns into our rank and file. It's been a while since Paul trod the boards, but he's no stranger to the wonderful world of Heavy Metal. As some of you may know, Paul was the singer in Irish legends ARCANE SUN all those years ago, and he basically got the job because of his grit, enthusiasm and actually showing up having learnt the songs and been able to sing them. His voice has a majestic and epic quality that we think will suit us well in the future with our forthcoming endeavours.

It was along drawn out process auditioning people, and there were some excellent candidates, of whom we wish to offer our thanks for trying out. On the other hand, we'd like to offer our contempt to the numerous idiots who contacted us with wildly unsuitable offers and vocal styles without actually reading the requirements for the vocalist position. To you, a hearty "Piss off."

As is stands, we have three gigs with General Felipe Plaza at the vocal position left, with Slough Feg and The Dead Resurrected  in a couple of weeks, so if you have the chance, be there. Paul will make his debut in Dublin on September 28th when will will be playing at PRIMORDIAL's 20th anniversary gig along with Germany's Desaster. Again, we need to thank Felipe for all his work and help, it's been an absolute pleasure working with such a great and talented vocalist. After the debacle earlier this year, we count ourselves lucky to have had the chance to make music with not one, but two great vocalists in Felipe Plaza and Paul Kearns. And here indeed is a quick snapshot of young Paul looking rather angry as he attempts to break the world microphone gripping record! Go Paul, go!

And so, onwards. Having reviewed what music I had already written, we have decided pretty much to start from scratch again working on fresh ideas, saving about ten - fifteen minutes of material and ideas from the past few years worth of writing. The past six months we have thought long and hard about how and where we should go musically, and what was written already musicwise (With the exception of "I AM THE HUNTER") seemed unsuitable or too regressive - (Too "Classic" Doom or too close to the ISEN TORR recording). Who knows, maybe the "ENGLANDER" album will sound how everyone imagines it will, but for ourselves, we feel we can push a little harder as musicians and create something worthy of it's predecessor without copying blindly the blueprint aready set out , to explain further :-

Unsurprisingly, we have fielded many questions recently concerning the musical nature of the forthcoming album. It would be wrong to say it won't sound like anything previously released by the band, but with a different working line up, comes different playing styles and influences. Without a doubt, minus the input of Andy Whittaker, Lenny Robinson, Rich Horton and Paul Kearns, SOLSTICE would not exist, and nor would we have the chance to evolve as a band. This much is true - it takes five people to make SOLSTICE what it is. And the five of us are committed to doing our best.There is no release time frame, nor grand master plan, we'll just do things at our own pace and when it's ready it will be ready, I cannot say anymore than that. The artwork and lyrical concepts are set in stone, the final part is the finishing and creation of the rest of the music.

Also in this updates news, we have a new exclusive T-Shirt design available from Andrea at Metal Supremacy in Germany, the "English Epic Metal" shirt features the incredible Martin Hanford artwork featured on "Lamentations" in its reissue form. It's a single sided shirt (A rarity in this day and age) but it says enough. The design will be available at the forthcoming gigs from us, as will some of the incredible Seventh Circle SOLSTICE Pendants. The image below represents the finished shirt design. We will also have a limited amount of the classic "NEW DARK AGE" logo/runescript shirts available at the gigs. To purchase either shirt design via mailorder please contact Andrea directly at - metalsupremacy.andrea@gmail.com

Finally, here is the list of confirmed forthcoming gigs. Until the next "gripping" update, maybe see you all at one of these. Or not. It's entirely up to you all, don't let us twist your arms....now, where's my rifle?

August 4th - London, The Relentless Garage (W/ SLOUGH FEG & Support)

August 5th - Nottingham, The Old Angel (W/ SLOUGH FEG & Support)
August 6th - Bradford, The 1 in 12 Club (W/ SLOUGH FEG & ATLANTEAN KODEX & more)
September 28th - Dublin, The Academy (W/ PRIMORDIAL & DESASTER)
October 1st - Leeds, Rios. (W/ DEATHWING, WHEN IDOLS FALL & More)