Tormentor Erich: When I am working on a CD review about an album like this ‘Predatress’ by Solitaire my mind often wanders off in two different directions. It goes a bit like this:
Direction one: Jesus, what a cover. I cannot imagine that somebody is still looking out for shit like this. I think that even in the eighties we thought that pictures like these were stupid and childish. Hmm, okay it is nice glossy paper, but still… and those lyrics, Oh man, it’s like we are going back in time for some twenty-seven years or something like that.
Direction two: Ah, an old fashioned speed metal album. Or should I say eighties heavy metal but played very fast? Wow, that guitar player knows what he is doing and the singer fits in just fine. I don’t understand why everybody is always talking about this music as “not done anymore”, because it sounds good.
So, and then I have to make a review and actually it is already half done now. These Finnish guys from Solitaire play some very eighties oriented speed metal. They wrote eleven songs and together that is thirty-eight minutes of pure metal music. They lyrics and photos in the booklet are rather silly, but that does not infect the music. No, it even makes the whole thing a bit more cult. And the music then? There is nothing wrong with the music, this is a fine album. Songs like ‘Spin The Saw’, ‘F.U.B.A.R.’ and ‘Iron Justice’ are fast, they have a catchy chorus and they are strewn with strong solos. During speed monsters like ‘Survivors’ and ‘From Hell To Horizon’ I even get some flashbacks from Exciter’s ‘Heavy Metal Maniac’ and Agent Steels ‘Sceptics Apocalypse’ and that’s a good sign! Another positive part are the twin guitars in ‘Leather Scream’ and I could go on telling something positive about every track. I also noticed that the bass and drums do claim a not to be overheard part in the whole thing and the raw but also not too ancient production gives ‘Predatress’ a “do it your self” sound that fits with the general idea of this album. So is there nothing at all to complain about? Well… the singer sometimes overdoes it a bit. In a song like ‘I’m A Schizo (And So Am I)’ he is a bit too enthusiastic. But okay, being a bit too fanatical is not so bad, let’s just say that he gives everything he has got, alright?
Solitaire know how to strike me down with ‘Predatress’. This is quite the elixir for metal purist, and for those of you who want to try out something else instead of yet another “next big thing”.
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