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SOLITARY
Nothing Changes: 20th Anniversary Edition

Doc (2018)
Rating: 7.5/10

It’s a blessing but also a tragedy that the grunge invasion of the early 90s put pay to so many careers within the heavy metal genre. By the mid-90s, in spite of some bands consistently ploughing on and new acts emerging, the metal community was struggling on the whole and artists such as Lancashire’s Solitary were left floundering; sporadically releasing platters beyond the millennium but not getting the rewards which surely they would have received had they emerged during the 80s and early 90s.

It’s no fault of their own, however; Solitary – almost living up to their bland moniker – were simply too late for the boat, but their 1998 debut opus Nothing Changes remains a cult classic within the field.

In 1994, seemingly out of place and out of time, a young Rich Sherrington – heavily influenced by fellow UK thrashers Xentrix – started his own band and has ploughed on through the trends. In 2017, Solitary released their third studio outing in the form of The Diseased Heart Of Society. However, in spite of rave reviews throughout their career, Sherrington and company have decided to revisit their debut opus and with the aid of some studio wizardry and meaty bonus demo cuts from 1996, have brought new life to that underrated debut composition.

Admittedly, when a band attempts to revisit its past I’m always sceptical, often wary of new, glossier dynamics and knob-twiddling being applied to the original sound. In this case however, Nothing Changes was no lo-fi, mid-80s basement level recording and so in a sense, the contemporary tweaking has done the album some favours and hopefully will bring in new fans too.

Thrash metal was certainly by no means dead in 1994, but the Bay Area scene had very much fizzled and territory was very much owned by Pantera, as extra, chunkier grooves were applied to metal. By the time Solitary’s debut arrived the world was dealing with Sepultura’s Against, Fear Factory’s Obsolete, Slayer’s confused Diabolus In Musica and nu-metal’s dreaded reign of terror.

And so, to the music. Solitary very much offered up a Xentrix-style of chunkiness, with hefty lumps of riff-o-rama led by Sherrington’s weighty snarls. In a sense, there was a grisly, drizzly and humourless British feel to Nothing Changes, almost forlorn in its disapproval of society. This is just as there was with Xentrix, which is why I could never grasp the Xentrix sound, instead preferring the more rustic evil of, say, Sabbat, and the goofier chimes of Acid Reign and the likes. Upon reflection and hearing these updated tracks though, I’m still reminded as to how good UK thrash was and still is, even since the new wave heralded by the likes of Evile.

‘Within Temptation’ kicks things off. I’m immediately struck by the menace of the vocals and the thickness of the production, the bass and drum rattling nicely but with shuddering moodiness, even though it’s very much straight-laced by design. ‘The Downward Spiral’ appears to have more in common with Machine Head’s brain-busting, heavy groove style in its tight, punishing rhythms, while the vocals act almost as choppy raps. The same goes for the juddering prowess of ‘A Second Chance’ which, even in its sprints, remains a steady, mid-tempo juggernaut. There are a distinct lack of frills, though; maybe the climate is affecting the dynamics here as Solitary rumble with sombre faces, carving out hefty lumps of snarling groove thrash.

‘Bitterness’ is not all that removed from the likes of Pantera, Exhorder et al as Simon Tomlinson’s drums drive with stony effect, but there is also that sense of all the tracks merging to one big and rather depressive bulk. The title track is snappy, choppy and again groove-laden, Matthew Costello’s lead almost smothered by the soup-like production as the band in general attempts to navigate the syrup and march on defiantly.

Meanwhile, Nothing Changes is most certainly a defiant album as forlorn instrumental ‘Clutching Straws’ leads us to the infectious chugs of ‘No Reason’ and the gnarly ‘Twisted’. Again though, I’m hearing those mid-90s slabs of rhythm which seem to override any sort of thrash niftiness. By the time ‘Fear’ comes bouncing along, I’m still suffocated by the darkness but remain appreciative of the extra layers that have been applied.

Was all the dabbling necessary, though? Well, I guess Sherrington and company can only answer that, but for comparison it’s nice to hear the quintet of demo tracks originally recorded in 1996 which showcase the original rawness of tracks such as ‘A Second Chance’, ‘No Reason’ and ‘Fear’ along with ‘The Bottom Line’ and ‘What Price’. I still prefer the demo tracks to those modern reworkings, buy hey, I’m an old thrasher still dazzled by those tinny, garage-created thrash acts of the 80s. That’s not take anything away from this CD only release from a band eager to keep the thrash flag flying. Nothing Changes is living proof that UK thrash was still very much alive and well enough through the grey haze of the 90s.

Neil Arnold

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