Ahh Solstice : the most palatable of all things British and pretentious. "New Dark Age" is the long awaited return of the pommy doom maestros, not heard of since the quite awesome "Lamentations", and a mythic 10" record which nobody I know has actually heard, and therefore, does not exist.

Musically, nothing much has changed, still drawing heavily on traditional doom influences like Solitude Aeturnus, and of more interest, an early Cathedral ("Forest..") *grunty* edge to their guitars...more so than the last album, anyway.

My main gripe? For a band who're supposedly "very metal" (tm, Vyv), they've sure done a lot of acoustic shit on this album...and its kind of annoying, because when they're in doom mode, they're rather fucking impressive....And of course, being on Misanthropy, they suffer from "Troupe Kodaque Homosexuale" - (arty/gay band photo syndrome).

Standout tracks are : the title track; the catchy and chant-laden "Alchemiculte"; "New Dark Age II", and the gargantuan "Legion XIII", which at 15mins, almost makes up for all the boring acoustic stuff on it. DISCLAIMER : I do not think acoustic stuff is not boring by default.

Traditional doom metal, done well, but (like "Lamentations") still nothing extraordinary. Worth the wait? No...well, for Britons, perhaps.

7.5/10

© 1999 brett