Glue Tube

Has Chris Barnes been sniffing glue? Or is he sat on some "Adult leisure toy"? Who knows, but the 90 seconds of this youtube short make us wonder, that opening "Yelp" is something beyond words. Polarising I might be, but it's better to be that I feel than some "yes man" nodding my head in agreement to everything. That aside, you can indeed buy one of the last copies of "NEW DARK AGE" from Hellride Music, so make Mr. Barnes happy, and do the right thing. He's a good fellow, despite the burden of not coming from Yorkshire.

The Tenth Day

10 days have passed since we announced that we were searching for a new singer, and still the search continues. Although we are trying out a few people in a couple of weeks it would seem unlikely that we will make it to the Greek and German gigs, for this we can only apologise.

Let me explain further, it has been suggested we play with a stand in vocalist, and although we appreciate the 2 solid offers we have (Thankyou Andreas and Felipe!) it would defeat the object and lower SOLSTICE to little more than a tribute band level. This is certainly not for us. We envisioned that we would again be ready to take on all comers, but it is not to be just yet, and in all honesty it could be some time again before we are ready to play live once more.

Also as a result of all the line up problems, we will not be taking on any new bookings in the meantime. It would be stupid to have to go through the same situation. Again I apologise, but when we are ready, first on our agenda will be a show in Greece. Make no mistake, we will be there.

Until then, still contact us if you are wishing to audition for the position of band vocalist, we are keen to hear especially from people based in the "Satanic" North of England. email us via the metalculte@hotmail.com address.

In other news, the SOLSTICE pendants are now ready, you can order them directly from us, or from from SEVENTH CIRCLE ARTWORKS. Honestly these are simply great, and with a variety of extras of what you are able to order, the price varies to suit all pockets. We ourselves have only the basic pendant on a leather thong though, for the others you must contact SEVENTH CIRCLE.

Finally, work has recommenced by MARTIN HANFORD for the artwork for our next album, it will contain what I feel to be unusual imagery, and dare I say it, be a fist in the face of the "Sword & Sorcery" brigade. I have grown tired of ridiculous covers with bands depicting themselves as muscle bound demi-gods towering over a 7 stone weakling whilst wielding an unlikely looking weapon. The only thing it says to me, is lack of thought and looking to sell albums to the legions of emasculated internet commandos keen to make themselves connect with their "Inner warrior". Whatever....

One more thing, we have a new facebook page - if you are a facebook user you can find it by searching for SOLSTICE-ENGLANDER via the search function. This replaces the old one ran by Paul. And we'll try and keep it updated, honest!

Until the next time, drink and be merry.

11.1.11

That's a strange set of numbers if we ever saw them, but no time to dwell on the possible numerologcal implications of todays events. More about that later though....As we move forward to the first lot of live performances from the new line up, you can expect to hear both old and new songs. However, despite repeated requests we will be gradually dropping most of the old material barring three songs by the summer as we complete and introduce the new ones into the set.

The reason is simply that we do not wish to dwell in the past, and this is a new beginning for SOLSTICE as a band, and no matter how long it lasts, it would be foolish to become a tribute to ourselves (I myself have been down that road before with the last band I played for - its no fun after a certain point and counterproductive). As well, as a band we have issues that we need to address in our lyrics, and as time moves on, so do our concerns. To mirror this, the lyrics for our next album, "Englander" will address these subjects. There will be less hidden meaning, and no pretense of "Spiritual clarity" or other such nonsense that others market to you (Such as how their dog has died, girlfriend left them, they pissed the bed, or any "Hey nonny no, flight of the Harpie" etc) . Quite simply, the lyrics will be direct and straight to the point, like a fist in the face (Or a crossbow bolt to the kneecap).

We will also not be playing anything from the first two releases and will not ever again. The live set for Oslo at the end of the month will be as follows ;

I Am The Hunter

Cimmerian Codex

The Sleeping Tyrant

New Dark Age II

Cromlech

Aequinoctium II

It is also likely Athens will be the last ever live performance of "Cromlech" also, as we drop that in favour of something new for further dates, and we should also remind people that we will also be playing this weekend at the memorial for our departed friend, Jay Jay Winter of ASOMVEL at the Riverside Bar in Selby.

Finally, we took delivery just after yule of the first custom "Englander" effects pedal. I will post some pictures shortly as it will be put through its paces at some future rehearsals, if the sound is what we are looking for, it will be a fixture in the SOLSTICE pedal chain for both guitars. For now here is a picture of the unfinished pedal casing.

Until the next time, please remember that the Sterling is the greatest Sub-Machine gun ever invented. And if anybody has one to trade, we would be more than willing to take it off your hands.

Noise Is For Heroes.

After some fucking around, here is the player from myspace site. Very soon we will add some rehearsal versions of both old and new tracks for your listening (Dis)pleasure. Although it has to be said that the new line up plays these songs slightly different (yes, that's right, in time and in the correct key this time!!) they are still indictive of the bands overall sound. Nothing has changed, except, we're better looking.

For this reason alone, and contrary to an earlier post we will keep the myspace site alive only to use the free media player. News updates will be posted on here first. Please let it also be said, that facebook is a pile of shite as well, full of gossiping fishwives and other losers.

We will also be ammending our upcoming shows list shortly for 2011. Our sincerest apologies for the postponement of an appearence at HELL'S PLEASURE Festival, but circumstance dictates that we cannot attend this year. However, we should be there in 2012, which is only 18 months away. Also keep your eyes peeled in the Yorkshire and Midlands areas, as we will be playing a number of gigs under two different psuedonymns  opening up as many small shows possible for the hell of it. All the more reason to get out to clubs and support some local bands, right folks?

"NEW DARK AGE" Vinyl LP Reissue

After a decade of been out of print, the album is finally reissued on vinyl by the incredibly
excellent BURIED BY TIME & DUST Records in the USA. Remastered, this pressing is different to the original METAL SUPREMACY pressing from 2000. The main points of note been -

*Heavyweight case wrapped sleeve

*Foil stamped logo and main title

*180g Black vinyl

*8 page Full colour booklet with Liner notes

*Entirely new layout

*Limited pressing of 500 Copies only.

Copies can be ordered directly from the label - sleepyhollow70@comcast.net

Or from such mailorders as Hellride (USA), High Roller (Germany), The Forge (Portugal) etc. We are much in debt to Nick & Russ for this opportunity to again present the album on wax. As everyone knows, vinyl is the choice of champions, and unlike the cheap and nasty releases been issued  and overcharged for by some so called "metal" (Or is is "Magik rock"?) labels in England, BBTD are the masters of high quality. The photo's below naturally do not do this release justice, so we can only suggest that you purchase a copy promptly. 

Winter Solstice

With less than a week to go to the 21st, and heavy snowstorms predicted we are considering the possibilty that we may have to curtail this years treck to Saddleworth with our friends Titus and Les of SOLOMON KANE. However, if this is the case, the 21st will see the Yorkshire band members propping up a bar,possibly the Riverside Bar in Selby (Except Lenny, who'll be sunning himself in L.A. the flash bastard!). If you're in the area, join us for a drink or 10 and raise a toast to the memory of absent friends and celebrate.

"EPICUS METALLICUS MAXIMUS" Cassette

The last copies of this cassette only release are available from THE FORGE in Portugal. Featuring both live and Studio cuts from the "LAMENTATIONS" and "NEW DARK AGE" eras, its a worthy addition to anyones music collection. We hope again in the future to make another exclusive cassette only release on THE FORGE with Francisco. For ordering please click on the link to the right.