Solstice is an English

epic doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

band from

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, east of Hudder ...

, founded by Rich Walker after the breakup of his previous

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...

grindcore Grindcore is an extreme fusion genre of heavy metal and hardcore punk that originated in the mid-1980s, drawing inspiration from abrasive-sounding musical styles, such as thrashcore, crust punk, hardcore punk, extreme metal, and industrial. G ...

bands

Sore Throat Sore throat, also known as throat pain, is pain or irritation of the throat. Usually, causes of sore throat include * viral infections * group A streptococcal infection (GAS) bacterial infection * pharyngitis (inflammation of the throat) * tonsi ...

and Warfear. Rich Walker previously ran The Miskatonic Foundation, a record label dedicated to doom metal and traditional heavy metal.

History

Contemporary with the second wave of black metal that was especially active in Norway and other Scandinavian nations, Solstice released their debut album ''

Lamentations The Book of Lamentations ( he, אֵיכָה, , from its incipit meaning "how") is a collection of poetic laments for the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE. In the Hebrew Bible it appears in the Ketuvim ("Writings") as one of the Five Megillot ...

'' on England's

Candlelight Records Candlelight Records is a British record label based in England and founded by former Extreme Noise Terror bassist Lee Barrett, though it has had a division in the United States since January 2001. Candlelight Records specialises in black metal ...

in 1994. The album was followed by a UK tour with

Count Raven Count Raven are a Swedish doom metal band established in 1989. From 1990 to 1996, the band released four studio albums, then broke up in 1998. In 2003, they reunited and in 2009 released their fifth album, ''Mammons War''. History The band, for ...

and a European tour with

Anathema Anathema, in common usage, is something or someone detested or shunned. In its other main usage, it is a formal excommunication. The latter meaning, its ecclesiastical sense, is based on New Testament usage. In the Old Testament, anathema was a cr ...

. 1996 saw the release of the ''Halcyon'' EP on Godhead Recordings; two years later, the band signed with

Misanthropy Records Misanthropy Records was a British heavy metal record label. History The label was founded in 1993 by Tiziana Stupia, originally solely to release an album by Burzum. The background to the founding of the company was that after Varg Vikernes ...

, which helped release ''New Dark Age''. During these times, Solstice were experiencing issues with their line-up, which culminated in them splitting up in 2002. Solstice was reunited in 2007 after a five-year hiatus. Walker commented that he was inspired to continue Solstice after enlisting Andrew Whittaker from The Lamp of Thoth. The recruitment of Paul Britton on vocals and Richard Horton on drums, both formerly of

NWOBHM The new wave of British heavy metal (commonly abbreviated as NWOBHM) was a nationwide musical movement that started in England in the mid-1970s and achieved international attention by the early 1980s. Journalist Geoff Barton coined the term i ...

outfit Scarab) was brief, but the band had Procession singer Felipe temporarily fill the vocalist position to honour live commitments. Buoyed by their live success, Solstice recruited Paul Thomas Kearns a full-time vocalist in summer 2011. An Irishman living in Oslo, Kearns appeared on one album with disbanded Irish

doom/death metal Death-doom is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It combines the slow tempos and pessimistic or depressive mood of doom metal with the deep growling vocals and double kick drumming of death metal. The genre emerged in the late-1980s and gained ...

band Arcane Sun. The new line-up of Solstice made their live debut on 24 September 2011, opening for Primordial's 20-year anniversary show at Dublin's Academy Del Nichol replaced Richard Horton on drums later in 2011, and was also replaced nine months later by Deceptor's drummer James Ashbey. Solstice ended their 12-year absence from the recording studio in early 2013 with the release of their Mini LP ''Death's Crown is Victory'', issued on their own "White Horse" imprint. They promoted this release by touring across Europe. In late 2019, Hel Thorne, alternately regarded as Hagthorn, was revealed as the new vocalist of Solstice, having replaced Paul Thomas Kearns. To commemorate her joining the band, Solstice released a two-song EP called ''White Thane'', which consisted of two songs from their 2018 album ''White Horse Hill'' reworked with Hagthorn on vocals. Hagthorn's previous musical experience includes being the vocalist for

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

-based doom metal band Chalice.

Discography

Albums

* ''

'', 1994 * ''New Dark Age'', 1998 * ''White Horse Hill'', 2018

Mini albums

*''

Death's Crown Is Victory ''Death's Crown Is Victory'' is a 2013 EP by British doom metal band Solstice. It was originally released through the bands page on the website Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co ...

'', 2013 *''

White Horse Hill Whitehorse Hill is a hill in the Berkshire Downs in Oxfordshire, England, west of Wantage. At , it is the highest point in Oxfordshire. Uffington Castle lies on the summit of the hill, and the Uffington White Horse is on the hill's northern sl ...

'', 2015

EPs

* ''Halcyon'', 1996

Splits

* Solstice/Twisted Tower Dire, 2001 * Solstice/

The Lord Weird Slough Feg Slough Feg (also known as The Lord Weird Slough Feg) is an American heavy metal band from Pennsylvania, formed in 1990 and currently based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Taking their name from the Celtic folklore-influenced comic book Sláine ...

, 2002

Demos

* ''Lamentations'', 1991 * ''MCMXCII'', 1992 * ''As Empires Fall'', 1993 * ''Ragnarok'', 1994 * ''Drunken Dungeon Sessions'', 1997 * ''To Sol A Thane'', 2016

Compilations

* ''Only the Strong'', 2008 * ''Epicus Metalicus Maximus'', 2010Solstice
bnrmetal.com. Retrieved on 2 January 2011.

Band members

;Current members * Richard M. Walker – guitar (1990–2002, 2007–present) * Rick Budby – drums (1996–2002, 2016–present) * Andy Whittaker – guitar (2010–present) * Daryl Parson – bass (2018–present) * Hagthorn – vocals (2019–present) ;Former members * Dave "Doom" Talbot – guitar, vocals (1990–1991) * Paul Youdan – vocals (1991–1992) * Mark Stojsavljevic – vocals (1992–1993) * Simon Matravers – vocals (1994–1995) * Morris Ingram – vocals (1996–2002) * Tom Phillips – vocals (1996) * Adrian Miles – vocals (2007–2010) * Paul Britton – vocals (2010–2011) * Paul Thomas Kearns – vocals (2011–2019) * Lennaert Roomer – guitar (1991–1992), drums (1994–1995) * Lee Baines – guitar (1992–1993) * Hamish Glencross – guitar (1996–1999) * Jerry Budby – guitar (2000) * Roberto Mendes – guitar (2001–2002) * Brendan Dawson – bass (1990–1993) *

Gian Pyres Gian Pyres (born Gianpiero Piras, 20 October 1973) is an English guitarist, best known for his work with extreme metal band Cradle of Filth for which he recorded guitars for '' Cruelty and the Beast'' (1998), ''Midian'' (2000), ''Bitter Suites t ...

– bass (1993), guitar (1994–1996) * Lee Netherwood – bass (1994–2002) * Diccon Harper – bass (2007–2010) * Lenny Robinson – bass (2010–2012) * Ian "Geezer" Buxton – bass (2012–2018) * Gary Riley – drums (1990–1993) * Shaun Taylor-Steels – drums (1995–1996, 2007–2010) * Richard Horton – drums (2010–2011) * Del Nichol – drums (2011–2012) * James Ashbey – drums (2012–2016) Timeline

References

External links

*
Solstice at Encyclopedia Metallum

{{Authority control English doom metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1990