After signing to the label Black Lion Records earlier this year, Solemn Vision returned with the follow-up to their 2019 self-titled debut. The new album, Despite the Rise of the Sun, is a diverse yet cohesive listen. With ten songs including an acoustic track, the record lasts just under one hour. Each track flows and transitions seamlessly into the next, across heavy and soft passages. Lyrically, the record doesn’t necessarily have an overarching theme according to the band, but emphasizes the importance of balance when confronted with challenges.
Instrumentally, a clear Opeth influence can be heard throughout Despite the Rise of the Sun. The Brooklyn-based progressive melodic death metal band also takes inspiration from premier Scandanavian melodic death metal bands such as Insomnium and At the Gates, while frontman Aaron Harris lists Trevor Strnad and former Suffocation vocalist Frank Mullen among his top vocal influences. Harris switches between deep growls and high screams, while also adding occasional clean singing or whispered spoken word on some songs including “Father from the Flame” and “On the Eve of Silence”.
One single, “Gates”, reminded me stylistically of The Black Dahlia Murder, while others like “Bane and Benumbed” combine that classic At the Gates melodic death metal sound with a more modern style. In contrast, “On the Eve of Silence” is a dynamic, melodic metal song reminiscent of Trivium, while maintaining its heavier moments. The acoustic version of “Unfinished Tapestry” that closes the record shows a different side to the band as well. “Every member is from a different walk of life,” Aaron Harris said when discussing Solemn Vision’s various metal influences in an interview. “I come from Long Island, and everybody else comes from the boroughs, and everybody has played with a different band or people from different parts of NY. We take all those influences, put it into one.”
Joining the Black Lion roster certainly helped this band receive attention from the broader metal scene. On December 11, Despite the Rise of the Sun made the top 25 of Metal Injection’s year-end reader’s poll. This landed them alongside bands like Johnny Booth, Blackbraid, Periphery, Sleep Token and Cattle Decapitation. With votes cast for around 700 different albums, Solemn Vision took the #19 spot – quite the impressive accomplishment for an underground band just on their second release.
You can also listen to their first album released independently:
