The times are dire and the outlook into the future ain’t great. Crisis upon crisis, threats of war, power grabs, and an uncertain future courtesy of a few unhinged strongmen. A dystopian and widespread feeling of unease permeates the populace – and that doesn’t bode well. That is how the Year of the Dark Lord 2025 presents itself and we’re not very far into it yet. Sounds dark, dreary, and gray, doesn’t it? Well, it is, and it might well get worse quickly.1
So, what better time to dig into the doom-filled depths of Soliloquium‘s newest piece Famine. An introspective and personal journey back to the early ’20s, the life and times of one Stefan Nordström. Darkness and emotions. Grab yer happy pills.
Okay, admitted. The RMR crew didn’t get very far with reviews for Soliloquium’s past records. Powerful doom records require the right time to pull through. Said otherwise, I don’t fancy digging around other people’s emotions when the warm summer sun is shining or the birdies are singing on sunny spring mornings. But this time, once the promo came around, the record pricked the ears of the grizzled geezers at the RMR Review Desk nonetheless. And boy, Famine turned into a powerful piece of woe and desperation. It takes a lot of skill to convey sentiment palpably and not get lost in intricacies.
The record’s bone-grinding soul bread definitely anchors itself in the Scandinavian Melodic Death and Doom Death Metal scene. You get Nordström‘s haunting leads, riffs, solos, and his wistful clears, amid Death Metal roars and blackened rasps. Xinês2 powerfully chimes in with drum work perfectly timed to till the rich soil of doom ‘n’ desperation. Jonas Bergkvist‘s proficient bass – in contrast – nobly stays in the background as it should and that’s an astonishing strategy. In fact, a more in-yer-face use of slapping da bass often yields the best results. Albeit that the halting up close and personal theme actually favors the use of a quiet bass contribution in a geeky kind of way. Exceptions confirm the rulez, I guess.
Yet, as of the second half, Famine waltzed straight into the melancholy world of Gothic Metal (Weight of the Unspoken, for instance). The emotive and tear-drenched traits of this genre often express themselves in some sort of straight storytelling. Nordström exploited this to perfection, and we’re not saying this lightly. More often than not, Gothic Metal artists lose themselves in some sort of a mushy mess of meandering mumblings. And that caught our ire more than once already. Yet here, the male and female musings perfectly matched the mood and – for once – just at the right balance. Further, I reckon that the savvy addition of some humble servings of Alternative Metal à la Dawnwalker and – to a lesser extent – Final Coil did a lot of good to keep the RMR crew alert and interested.
And finally, we got ourselves an artist who understands that he cannot go this alone. Apart from the ‘usual’ culprits in Soliloquium‘s direct orbit, Famine sprouted a whole panoply of guest contributors. The most noteworthy of which probably is Chelsea Murphy of Dawn of Ouroboros3 on Poison Well.
Ultimately, though, Famine brought us an outstanding blend of Rise to the Sky-ish Doom Death Metal and a masterclass in Gothic Metal melancholy. A record that neatly joined those two very specific genres into a coherent amalgamation. An alloy that effortlessly adds sturdy elements of Alternative Metal and subtle sampling to make a (very strong) point. More importantly, though, the RMR crew finally found an artist displaying a mastery of gothic dejection and depression. And they’re at a level far removed from the usual garbage can fodder we often get.
In short, Soliloquium impressed us with a carload of perfectly executed wistful misery and distress, full of genuine emotion, and based on a storyline of true events. It cannot get more authentic than that. And now this crew already hungers for more to come in the future. But until then, it will be Famine indeed.
Record Rating: 8/10 | Label: Meuse Music | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 11 April 2025