Solution .45 – a melodic death metal project hailing from Sweden, born from the mind of Miseration, Divinefire and Essence of Sorrow (amongst others) guitarist Jani Stefanovic. Featuring Miseration and ex-Scar Symmetry vocalist Christian Älvestam, as well as guitarist Patrik Gardberg and Miseration and Stratovarius drummer Rolfe Pilve the band are born. Now that we have the introductions out of the way let’s get down to it – this album is stunning.
That word is thrown around a lot by people who use it inappropriately, and too liberally, but Nightmares in the Waking State Pt. 1 is genuinely stunning. When you take some of the best melo-death musicians Sweden has to offer (not a small accolade by any means) and they spend five years making an album, you’d expect it to be absolute gold, but Nightmares in the Waking State is genuinely brilliant.
Not only is each song crafted to a near-impeccable state, but each one has it’s own distinct vibe. It has downtuned, djent-like riffage in ‘Winning Where Losing Is All‘; ‘In Moments Of Despair‘, which is as close to a Euro-pop ballad as you could expect a melo-death band to go; straight-up melo-death pummeling in ‘Wield the Scepter‘.
Solution .45 have managed to find the best balance possible between blistering technicality and simpler, refined songwriting. Älvestam’s vocal range is even more on-point than usual; let us not forget that when he left Scar Symmetry they had to get two vocalists just to replace him, and he can take on the best of them when it comes to nailing both the harsh, ball-breakingly heavy melodic death metal sections, and the soaring incandescence of the clean vocal sections. The rest of the band match him in every way, tailoring their playing to the songs so well that to trying to listen to each of them individually is like trying to drink seventeen of your favourite drinks at once.
Although it may sound hyperbolic beyond belief, Nightmares in the Waking State Pt. 1 is an encompassing of some of the very best of the heavy metal genre; if you have a vested interest in anything at all heavy there is absolutely no chance that there won’t be something you absolutely love on this album.
