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Solstice – Helgi’s, Hackney, East London, 18th October 2023 – Well that was serious, first Solstice gig in an age, save for a couple of secret warn up gigs under a secret name to pretty much no one just to get match fit before they embarked on a London raid. We’re talking the epic metal band rather that the (equally good) folky prog rock band of the same name. Actually this Solstice are more than capable of some epic prog rock and a touch of Blackthorne flavoured folk, pretty much everything they’ve ever done has been epic.  Do rather like both of the English bands called Solstice (there’s been loads of bands called Solstice) and I do rather like that our local bar is a walk shorter than the average Solstice song which really leaves little excuse (other than that paint was flowing) for missing the opening band Coltre tonight, word was they were good, sorry Coltre.  

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Helgi’s is perfect for bands like Solstice, a black pit of a back room drenched in dark red light, dripping with atmosphere, put your arms out and you can almost touch both sides of the East London sweat box, this is a great room for proper heavy metal night (you don’t get that many Hackney hipsters in here, the fact that the front window is pretty much blacked out by a giant painting of the first Sabbath album probably keeps them away). The Solstice sound is proper. we’re talking classic old-school epic doom-flavoured arcane heavy metal beauty, it might even reach back to the days when we just called it all heavy rock, certainly the darker edges of the NWOBHM. The new line up are not holding back tonight, they’re on it from the start, galloping doom, crowd packed in and with them from the off, epic guitar in harmonic tune with the rhythm and a band apparently delighted there had been a lunar eclipse minutes before they  took to the stage (yes there is an actual stage in Helgi’s now). Solstice are back, don’t ask where they’ve been, we’re more interested in the here and now and the current line up than any old band politics and what might have gone down.

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Dan Capp, he of Wolcensmen, has taken over as more than worthy frontman of the born yet again band originally founded at the end of the 80s by Rich Walker once of hardcore grindcore bands Sore Throat and Warfear (Rich is still there leading it all). As someone else already said, Dan was born to sing these epic songs, this does not feel like his first proper gig with the band, feels like he’s always been there. Can’t say I agree with everything Mr Capp might say, some of those views on Covid were a little questionable and I’m never quite sure about some of the slants on Paganism and Englishness that some might offer, sometimes it does feel a little too much like a boys club and I do hope he’s not off down the road with Current 93 and the likes, kind of feels like he isn’t, hope I’m right. Without a doubt Dan Capp is the perfect fit for this version of Solstice, that was a magestic version of the brilliant beast of a song that is White Horse Hill, crowd really in tune with ritual of it all and that final shot of the night that was the nine and a bit minutes of their classic Cimmerian Complex and those pounding drums at the start as well as that bit where the wind blows in a guitar goes silent to let the voices carry it really was a highlight of what was nothing but a very strong set of epics. 

A epic night of proper proper proper heavy rock on a very rainy Saturday night in deepest East London, epic really is the only word in terms of this particular Solstice, they don’t do things by halves, never have done, this version of Solstice are sounding strong, and Helgi’s really was the only place for the the next chapter to start to unfold… Epic night.  (sw)

Solstice on Facebook / Bandcamp . Helgi’s on Facebook