At Sentinel Daily we’ve carved a nice little niche for ourselves, throwing the spotlight on the best new metal bands whilst always keeping a bulging, fish-eye on the past and all the bands that’ve made ‘our kind of music’ such a thing to behold. But, occasionally you have to cast forward to the future, to what awaits us all. And as the World becomes seemingly more divided by the day as those in charge seek to play us off against one another on just about every subject known to man (or woman), we decided to ask the question: What lies ahead for heavy metal? Can it act as a united force? Or is it doomed to division and destruction like everything and everyone else?

For the second in our Heavy Metal: The Future series we talk to Rich Sherrington from UK thrashers Solitary…
What are some of the most exciting trends in heavy metal today? “I really don’t know what is trending but I like the fact that all the bands from the golden era of thrash have reformed. We went to watch Forbidden a couple of weeks ago and despite the fact that Russ Anderson wasn’t singing it was still amazing”.

Which emerging bands or sub-genres are you most excited about? “To be honest I don’t really find out about new bands as often as I should. I’m not really concerned about genres or sub genres – if it’s good I’ll listen to it. I really like the Bad Wolves last album, which is pretty far removed from God Forbid which is the main reason I first checked them out in 2018″.

Which new bands do you think are leading the heavy metal scene in the 2020s? “That I can’t say as I’m too focused on making Solitary work. As I said, I’m just enjoying seeing bands from my youth coming back, like The Almighty for example”.

Moving away from specific bands – how do you think technology will continue to influence heavy metal moving forward? “It’s bound to given that we all use technology to record music. It’s definitely made life easier for us to write and record, but we still use the traditional studio methods and producers who incorporate the latest tech”.

What broader challenges do you think heavy metal will face in the future? “Metal survived the nineties so it can come through the toughest of challenges and ultimately the quality shines through. Music makes life make sense and people will always need a way of coping with things, a way to enjoy themselves and to release tensions. Metal makes the listener feel ten feet tall and it will be here forever”.

Artificial Intelligence-generated music collaborations – evil or divine? “It’s quite interesting to hear how close they sound to the original vocalist for example, but I don’t think it will eradicate metal as the whole concept of metal is about authenticity, which AI isn’t – it’s fake”.

As an extension of that, some bands are already incorporating virtual/augmented reality elements into shows – are you comfortable with this and is the end game just hologram Maiden/Metallica et cetera touring in perpetuity? “Maybe it’s because they realise that they are a pale imitation of their former selves, so they have to incorporate gimmicks to make the show more of an experience, to sell the ludicrously priced tickets. I don’t know… for me it’s all about the metal. Slayer didn’t need all that kind of thing and they still put on great shows”.

How can the wider heavy metal community ensure the genre’s longevity? Will there even be a heavy metal community as we know it now in ten or fifteen years time? “Of course! It’s a heritage that runs through generations. Kids are brought up on metal, you’ve got generations of families turning up to shows – that’s not going to stop because the date on a calendar changes. As Jon Bon Groovy said “Keep the faith”!

In summary: Is your prognosis good or bad? “It can’t be anything but good as it would be pointless even writing music if you believed it was due to expire”.

Solitary’s Embrace The Darkness is out now. Read our review of the album HERE