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Froth & Fury Fest 2027 Reveals Stacked First Lineup

Froth & Fury Fest is returning to Adelaide in 2027, and the first wave of acts confirms it…
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https://www.europesays.com/australia/54772/

Asbury Park, New Jersey’s Solace observes their thirtieth anniversary this year, and to celebrate it, the quintet emerges to share fifth full-length, Fading Failing Ruin. After dropping debut Further in 2000 and follow-up 13 in 2003, Solace has adopted a lax release schedule, doling out two more platters in 2010 with A.D. and 2019 with The Brink. Between those two albums, Solace welcomed vocalist/keyboardist Justin Goins, drummer Timmy Gitlan, and bassist Mike Sica,1 leaving guitarists Tommy Southard and Justin Daniels as the threads of continuity. Despite the band’s longevity, Fading Failing Ruin is my first encounter with these Garden State stoners and their hypnotic grooves. Seven years after stepping up to The Brink, can Solace’s Fading Failing Ruin reach new highs, or does it just go up in smoke?

In my estimation, stoner metal simultaneously sprawls over an expanse of possibilities while often being limited by an overdrawn subject matter and blending into a cloud of faceless fuzz tones. Luckily, Solace has honed a singular identity and stands apart from contemporaries and genre-mates. Though they hail from Jersey, Solace adopts the southern charm of Corrosion of Conformity, instilling a folksy swagger to Fading Failing Ruin that feels genuine and expressive. Besides CoC, Solace rubs elbows with Kyuss’ mellower rhythms and Cathedral’s riff-heavy trudges without ever risking confusion with them. Over nine tracks, Fading Failing Ruin guides listeners through ‘apocalyptic, infernal, and end time themes’2 by way of ponderous riffs (and track lengths) drenched in delicious, southern-fried stoner doom.

Picking up where The Brink left off, Solace smacks you in the gob with their doleful guitar duo and slow-burn song structures. “Spiral Will” kicks off with a defiant lead that gives way to anthemic verses and a chorus I can’t seem to shake. “Beyond Below” and “Malengine the Scaffold” operate in a similar space, beginning with fuzz-soaked guitars that construct sullen layers as tension mounts until Solace unfurls slick variations and solos. “A God Changes His Plans” and “Culling the Herd,” the shortest songs on Fading Failing Ruin, afford opportunities for Solace to cut loose, pushing tempos higher and putting a heavier emphasis on guitar theatrics, which Southard and Daniels excel at. Goins, meanwhile, croons with conviction, landing somewhere between Live’s Ed Kowalczyk and Pepper Keenan. His vocals are a critical piece of Solace’s sound, and where original singer Jason’s vocals fit the band’s style early on, particularly the punkier forays of their first two albums, Goins adds a renewed vitality as the band focuses more on controlled pacing. Lastly, Gitlan and Sica’s rhythm section supports the band well enough, supplying the right backing without ever stepping into the spotlight.

Through sixty-seven minutes of stoner metal, Solace crafts distinctive songs that crackle and pop. Unfortunately, one glaring issue saps my enjoyment every time I listen, and its name is ‘bloat.’ Fifteen-minute “Wraths Object the Big Fall” is the biggest offender, and each time the song comes on, I find myself checking whether the music accidentally stopped, as it takes twenty seconds or so for any music to be heard. From there, Solace dithers for over six minutes before starting the song in earnest. I can’t for the life of me explain this build in a way that justifies the time, but after a handful of listens, I eventually began fast-forwarding the track to start at 6:43 or skipped it altogether. The rest of the song is solid, though still overlong, and similar issues creep into Fading Failing Ruin’s other compositions. Ultimately, Solace delivers under an hour of extremely strong riffs and music, yet in its current form, the album’s length extends past the quality of the product they peddle.

Still, Solace cultivates an engaging listen for the majority of Fading Failing Ruin, and thirty years in, they still have plenty of gas in the tank. Despite my complaint about bloat, I recommend giving Fading Failing Ruin a spin, whether you’re a fan of the genre or not. Big riffs and impassioned clean singing may sound like basic building blocks, but when they’re done this well, they stand out. So if your world goes to shit and life seems like a Fading Failing Ruin, go look for Solace.

Rating: Good
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Magnetic Eye Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: July 3rd, 2026

In my continuing exploration of Boston bands, the promo pit exhaled the latest from a stoner stalwart. Gozu have been dispensing their hybrid strain of stoner rock/metal since 2007, with riffmeisters Marc Gaffney (vocals, guitar) and Doug Sherman (lead guitar) serving as the only consistent members. Current bassist Joseph Grotto joined Gozu for Revival (2016), and Seth Botos began helming the drums on Remedy (2023), the band’s most recent output. Since their move to Metal Blade Records for Equilibrium (2018), Gozu have increasingly poppified their sound as Gaffney grows into a more versatile vocalist. Still, these Boston veterans haven’t abandoned their identity; catchy choruses sweeten a familiar beanpot of droney riffs. Also intact is their tongue-in-cheek humor; this is a band that named a song “Charles Bronson Pinchot” in 2012 and another “Tom Cruise Control” in 2023. As the first Gozu album to be covered on AMG, Gozu VI will achieve ‘wicked pissah’ status by continuing the band’s trend of refining their sound while maintaining their signature charm.

On the stoner continuum, Gozu veers closer to rock than metal while straddling the line. Indeed, this Boston quartet pack Clutch’s shuffling grooves (“Corinthian Leatherface”), Corrosion of Conformity’s bluesy dirges (“Midnight Express”), and Motörhead’s straight-ahead speed (“Banacek”) into their musical chamber. Gaffney and Sherman’s simple yet satisfying riffs hit listeners by way of production as warm and fuzzy as a Bay State bruin. Sometimes, the riffing is just as ferocious. On the excellently titled (and almost certainly referential) “Gimme the Lute,” fretboard gymnastics mingle with driving chugs and soupy sludge that feels more metallic than geological. Though new to the Gozu crew, Grotto and Botos form a serviceable rhythm section that doesn’t necessarily shine, but that understands the assignment: let the riffs (and vocals) pop. Avoiding the monotony of stoner metal and the banality of stoner rock, Gozu VI strikes a salutary balance.

In his role as vocalist, Gaffney elevates Gozu by displaying a varied arsenal of skills. His voice recalls Neil Fallon of Clutch but with a grunge coloring that’s more nose than chin (think Weiland, not Vedder). Gaffney’s choruses shift between nimble croons suiting the livelier tracks (“Corinthian Leatherface”) and diaphragm-ed belts fitting the doomier cuts (“Midnight Express”). Throughout the album, he tucks falsetto harmonies into his main lines, blending major and minor tonality in a manner akin to Soundgarden and Stone Temple Pilots. ”Corner Lariat” stands as Gaffney’s most ambitious and arresting performance, threading tender verses through a big, wistful chorus, broaching power ballad territory. Not every verse and chorus on Gozu VI knocks it out of Fenway, but enough do to give Gozu a pure listenability that most stoner acts do not possess.

At 8 tracks in 46 minutes, Gozu VI mostly delivers a cohesive album experience. “Corinthian Leatherface” gets this Boston Tea Party started strong, effortlessly tossing energetic riffs and sugary hooks off the side of the Stoner Ship in a rebellious yet controlled demonstration.1 From there, the album intermittently slows down, culminating with the pensive power of “Corner Lariat.” This is a solid run of tracks, though “Killer Khan” comes off as a bit redundant (and has some ham-fisted profanities). “Banacek” picks the pace back up, adding a unique freneticism to the album via interplay between Gaffney’s chunky power chords and Sherman’s wild shredding. Closing out the album is a scattershot three-track run. “Gimme the Lute” doles out some of the finest riffwork on Gozu VI, but “They Did Know Karate”2 suffers from bloat, while closer “Corvette Summer” anticlimactically fades out.

Gozu VI is, undoubtedly, a pissah. Gaffney, Sherman, and crew are pros who know how to produce high-quality jams built around strong riffs and vocal hooks. Stoner rock/metal proves a challenging paradigm within which to produce truly standout material, but Gozu come as close as I could imagine with their sixth LP. There’s nothing really innovative about Gozu VI, but there’s also nothing terribly wrong with it, and a lot to enjoy. While I hesitate to qualify their latest offering as ‘wicked,’ I don’t at all hesitate to recommend Gozu VI to anyone looking for a familiar, fun time.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 256 kbps mp3
Label: Metal Blade Records | Blacklight Media Records
Websites: Official | Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram
Releases Worldwide: May 15th, 2026