The Soma Solution – Conscious / 11 Tracks / 2004 Lifted and Gifted Records / http://www.thesomasolution.com / http://www.liftedandgifted.com

Talk about stopping on a dime. Maryland’s The Soma Solution can move from Weezer to Korn to so many other musical genres in the space of a song, and it is through incredible talent that The Soma Solution so cunningly accomplishes it. Crunchy guitars come t the forefront in tracks like “Abort”, a System of a Down-style crooned track that bubbles over continually with all the energy that Rob can put into the song. Never letting silence dominate their CD, it is precisely on a track like “Watch Me Fade”, which is propelled by spastic, break-neck guitars and a rapidly fluctuating set of vocals. The average distortion takes away a minor amount from the band, as it is painfully obvious that The Soma Solution surpasses many in talent – Chrissy’s bass lines are continually chugging throughout the disc, serving the double duty of furthering the track and ornamenting it as well. The multiple levels of vocals in “Threadburn” is yet another step in trying to flesh out The Soma Solution’s full sound, and Rob and company are able to layer without it cluttering up the sound too much or sounding like every other act currently using that tactic.

The Soma Solution can write a catchy, pop-metal track that has each component part working well together. “Conscious”’ recording is surprising coming from a band that is still trying to make themselves, and their arrangements are solid and well-done. Instead of filing the weaker tracks towards the end of the CD, “Conscious” is equally satisfying throughout. An example of a late-game winner of a track is “Mute”, which places Chrissy’s assault with a bass guitar right next to a chaotic guitar line thrown down by Rob. One major problem does rear its head during the span of “Conscious”, being Rob’s average vocal inflection. Each time ey spits out “fucking”, as well as a slew of other common words on “Conscious”, chances are that the different instances will sound exactly the same. Rob can sing, but “Conscious” really paints eir into an aural corner that is the same iteration of SOAD and Kurt Cobain.

By the gods, The Soma Solution has an impressive sound, a strong knowledge of the basics of music, but are still held back by certain things, the two most major still easy enough to fix by a band as talented as TSS. Here’s to hoping their follow-up albums address these issues, and before long, I am sure TSS will be more national of an act.

Top Tracks : Hymn For The Hopeless, Tempest Rating : 6.8/10