Soldiers of Solace - We Are Immortal (Rock n Growl Records)

Rising US heavy rockers, Soldiers Of Solace, have released their debut album We Are Immortal to the world. Having only formed in 2016 they have already shared the stage with such rock acts as Nonpoint, Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed and Scott Stapp of Creed. Known for powerful live performance, the band combines thoughtful lyrics, driving riffs and thundering beats. The Connecticut based heavy rock band was chosen by iRockradio as The Gayle Toyota Unsigned Act of the Month for July 2016. They were played in high rotation alongside bands such as Five Finger Death Punch, Shinedown and Metallica. As part of this selection the band got to film a live performance music video in studio courtesy of iRockradio as well as filming a video on site at Gale Toyota.

The band has since been picked up by German promoters, Rock ‘N Growl Records. This first album is a solid rocker and could point to bigger things for them down the track in a crowded hard rock genre.

The band cite their influences such as Disturbed, Shinedown, Alter Bridge, Seether, Korn, Metallica, and Black Sabbath to name a few. You can hear a number of those influences throughout the album.

Rude Awakening is the first track and grabs my attention immediately. It is a high tempo opener with a driving beat and distorted riffs that support the sound of vocalist Jason Longo. As an introduction to band, it does its job in the shortish three and a half minutes, enough that I am interested enough to take a longer listen.

As a whole the album has enough hooks to keep my interest throughout. While it sounds similar to other bands out there, I am a fan of the driving beats and find the vocals of lead singer Jason Longo to be strong. For me the best songs are:

We Are Immortal opens with a main riff that makes me think I am listening to Soundchaser by Rage. The song is complete with a breakdown in the middle before a nice little solo, this track is solid.

Cold As Stone is a slower tempo compared to the opening tracks, it has a Shinedown/FFDP vibe to the song.

Naked Truth starts off a bit slow but then has a funky, heavy groove to it.

Walk Tall shows further influence of FFDP with a driving bass beat that is right at the forefront of the sound.

Washed in Flames is the rocking ballad of the album and I can see it being sung along with gusto at a concert.

Soldiers of Solace are: