Stoner
Magnetic Eye Records
Release Date – August 22nd 2025
Line Up:
Jason L – Vocals
Tommy Southard – Guitar
Rob Hultz – Bass
Bill Belford – Drums
Tracklist:
Man Dog
Black Unholy Ground
Followed
Whistle Pig
Hungry Mother
Angels Dreaming
Suspicious Tower
Heavy Birth/2-Fisted
Another Life
We Bite
On The Hunt
Heavy Birth/2-Fisted (Alternate Version)
Dirt
Funk #49 (live)
There’s me thinking this is a new release but apparently this monster is 25 years old and has been given a huge remaster by Alan Douches. Released as a tribute to the original singer Jason L who sadly passed in January 2025, this really stands the test of time and has been enhanced with extra tracks which makes it clock in at over 90 minutes. Talk about VFM!
Opener ‘Man Dog’ starts with some squally guitar effects over a muffled voice before the power trio of Tommy Southard, Rob Hultz and Bill Belford come crashing in allowing Jason to use his Ozzy-like wail over the top. This is heavy and grooves like a bastard. ‘Black Unholy Ground’ has a spidery riff and again is one hell of a groove. Jason has a laid-back delivery on this one as Southard shows his chops before the psych/doom beast that is ‘Followed’. This is epic and goes through movements that highlight both Jason and Southard. Oh, what a riff it is that starts ‘Whistle Pig’ and it’s mirrored by the massive bottom end of Rob Hultz and the swinging beat of Belford. Are these the bastard sons of Black Sabbath? ‘Hungry Mother’ is a brief acoustic workout then the epic doom of ‘Angels Dreaming’ rides along for over nine minutes before ‘Suspicious Tower’ which starts with some B-Movie spoken word before another blinding riff and crushing groove. Do you fancy eleven minutes of stoner/doom/psych? You got it on ‘Heavy Birth – 2 Fisted’. Jeez, this is proper heavy and just rolls all over you before the rapid razor sharp ‘Another Life’ and the hardcore of ‘We Bite’. It’s back to the doom with ‘On The Hunt’ which kind of sounds like a demo or at least live on the floor. There’s another version of ‘Heavy Birth – 2 Fisted’ before the hardcore/psych hybrid of ‘Dirt’. Final cut is a live recording of The James Gang’s ‘Funk #49’ from Tokyo in 1998.
Take some time for yourself and play this loud. 90 minutes of class stoner/doom/psych with a bit of punk thrown in for good measure. Currently the only member still in Solace is guitarist Tommy Southard but this is a wonderful requiem for the others who were involved.
Written by: Smudge
Ratings: 9/10
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