Solarisis
Holland is made of Tofu
[Morbid]


Oh, the power of words...Well, let's go; Everything's orange. The info page I received from Morbid Records, the promo's cover, the whole show's orange (in relation to the Dutch national color?). Who the hell is Solarisis? Just yet another tasteless Death Metal outfit?? Well...Solarisis is definitely not another band, it's THE band!! A Band? Actually a solo project of one Dutchman bearing the impossible name of Gijs Van Ouwerkerk, a slim, bi-spectacled young man, and so very original too. The album's title is one of the less pretentious I have ever encountered. This person just does whatever he pleases, without sharing with anyone, without arguing with other band members over issues such as style, texts, influences or EGO. Van Ouwerkerk does here everything: Vocals, Guitars, bass, drum programming, keyboards, samples and other effects, and the result - Outstanding. Solarisis could easily, given this album as a reference, be placed at the top of the list of solo-project efforts, such as Diabolical Masquerade, Mortiis, Arckanum or Oxiplegatz to name a few to enter this list. I am sure that had a major label taken this artist under its wings, every kid would have been mumbling Solarisis' tunes at the same enthusiasm as he does it with let's say Cradle Of Filth's (A good example?). The vocals on this rare recording are effect-driven mostly (An electronic harmonizer?), the resulting sound is very metallic (the material, not the musical style), cold and brut (reminiscent of SoulStorm's vocals on 'Darkness Visible' from 1993), mostly deep but coherent death vocals, a touch of black metal throaty ones, and some are just clear and emotional. In all cases and styles of "singing", you can always understand what he's saying, which is good enough for me. The music is more diverse and progressive than most albums I have heard (and I heard a lot) in the metal underground. In each track you can find ten different rhythms ever changing, ever flowing and it never gets you bored. The drum-machine sounds very good (even better than the real thing?...), the genius keyboard passages, which are mostly minimalist, assembled in such a grace and emotional fashion that could make most black metal acts green with envy. You can find heavy metal riffs in song's openings and when the man sings his lament in a natural, sad voice - you could only cry. If one listens very carefully, one can hear some Summoning echos too. The guitars sound very good, heavy, dirty and crass and the production fits this unique music perfectly, not too clean, not too blurred. Mr., Van Ouwerkerk even thanks us, the audience, in one of the last songs' opening, for trying this album out and giving it a chance. And I say - NO, it's us who need to thank him, that with such an elegant move, this anonymous guy paves the way to the future sound of underground metal, and how it should and will sound in years to come. So, what did we have? An original name, original music, innovation, a lot of emotion and talent, a combination of death and industrial metal, touches of black metal and a lot of FUN. Nothing "dark", nothing "evil" or any other escapistic bullshit cliche here. Yeh, it may be even "happy" but I don't care, because it's 100% pure futuristic METAL in it's true sense; From the heart, from the gut, from the depths of the brain-stem (something Black Metal will never be...). Someone said Death Metal is dead?! You made me and the Dutchman laugh hard. So have an orange day and five stars to Morbid Records for having signed an artist of prophetic proportions!!!


© 2000 c. drishner