Connecticut was where I ended up this past weekend after much back and forth indecisiveness. A familiar enough setting by now, I can even navigate around Wallingford without a map, which came in handy when for the third time (here’s the second) I stopped in at Red Scroll Records on North Colony and hit their precariously positioned used rack to see what I could find. Of note, they had both Croatan‘s Curse of the Red Queen and Soulpreacher‘s Sonic Witchcraft, which I picked up in Maryland at SHoD X, and there were a couple other points of interest along the way, but what I ended up leaving with, paramount in the haul, was Lamentations by UK epic doomers Solstice and Suspect Symmetry by Ontario sludge-grinders Buried Inside.

I’ll be honest, I almost didn’t buy the latter. After reviewing their latest record earlier in the year I barely listened to it, and Suspect Symmetry didn’t seem to justify my $7.50, but curiosity won out, and since this was the record that ostensibly got them signed to Relapse, I figured it was at least worthy of hearing. And yeah, I guess it was.

Hardly a landmark or anything, the 2001 record saw Buried Inside reconciling their grinding side with the more atmospheric expressions that would come to prevalence on their later material. They weren’t shy about throwing in a metalcore breakdown (who was in 2001?), and the fiercely political themes that have managed to stay a part of their pastiche were definitely in full effect on cuts like “The Fallacy of Wildlife Conservation” and “Terrortourimology.” If only someone could trick these guys into putting out a record more often than every four years, they might be able to get something going. For now, Suspect Symmetry was abrasive and rife with aggression. Couldn’t really ask much more of it than that, but like Buried Inside‘s subsequent releases, I have the feeling it’s going to start gathering dust real soon.

With Solstice, I wasn’t even sure I was buying the right band. Lamentations, the band’s debut, was originally released in 1994 on Candlelight (not that I knew that at the time). The issue I got was from 2001 on the same label’s US imprint — catalog number Canus0011CD, to be precise. It was the familiarity of the logo that convinced me they were the doomers I was looking for and I snagged Lamentations, only to find out, oh, about six seconds into it that, yes, I was right. Solstice‘s first record is a trad-doom fan’s wet dream. It’s got riffs, it’s got wails, it’s got lumber and it’s got Lovecraft. In a genre that knows its playbook well, these guys hit all their marks.

I definitely got my money’s worth out of Solstice, and at least with Buried Inside I knew I was taking a risk. No regrets. Also purchased were: a COC promo single for “Seven Days,” Paradise Lost‘s Draconian Times, a Bulemics/River City Rapists split on Man’s Ruin and Skyforger, the new album from Amorphis. I also had the chance to pick up the new Alice in Chains and declined. Take that, heavy metal hype machine.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 at 8:17 pm and is filed under Buried Treasure. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.