This is Solid State Volume 3
7/10
I've got a real soft spot for label compilations. These albums often act as a showcase, a snapshot in time of just what that given label has to offer. Also, they generally only cost a few dollars, so when I was living in my first college apartment, during spring semester of my sophomore year at LSU, I had the necessary $3.99 to pick up Solid State Volume 3.
I've written here before about "The Golden Age of Christian Rock," and while I know some people might say, "Oh, you mean when it sucked slightly less," I'll answer, "Actually, it was really damned good, and you either don't know what you're talking about, or are compensating for something." In the late 90's and early 00's, the Christian Rock scene, featuring a whole lot of bands who resisted that moniker, was strikingly diverse, full of at worst serviceable, and often very goods bands in every sub-genre.
Sure, there were bands who often just aped some other specific "secular" band's sound...I won't name names, but there were definitely some who tried to catch the market scraps of "My mom won't let me listen to X band, but she will let me listen to this Christian band who sounds exactly like them." However, I think there were also a lot of earnest bands who were good at what they did and just happened to be on independent Christian labels. Tooth and Nail Records, and their heavier subsidiary, Solid State Records, certainly featured plenty of those bands. If there's an argument for "This was the best moment," you could probably make a pitch for any of the six This Is Solid State samplers, though I think Volume 3 may have the strongest case.
Volume 3 comes just a few months after P.O.D. hit huge in the mainstream market (with their 7X platinum record, Satellite), and before bands like Underoath popularized screamo and sold millions of records for the label (a clear tell in growth--bands like Underoath and Dead Poetic getting shifted from Solid State to Tooth & Nail as their sounds changed). Because of this, there's a noticeable lack of trend-chasing here on Volume 3, or even anything approaching pandering. These aren't bands attempting to get their video on TRL. This music, featuring mostly hardcore and death metal, is raw and heavy.
With that said, this collection will only appeal to fans of heavy music, particularly what was coming out of that scene at the turn of the century. Considering I not only love heavy music, but started co-hosting Soulglow, the Christian Rock Show, on LSU's KLSU just a couple months after Volume 3 was released, this compilation hits a double sweet-spot for me. I think it's loaded with great songs, and there are some rarities here, as well. For instance, there's the original, grittier version of Project 86's "Spy Hunter," which was released in a much more polished form two years later on the band's Songs to Burn Your Bridges By. There's also the original, rawer version of Demon Hunter's "Through The Black, " which serves as the soon to breakout band's first officially released recording. In fact, that summer, while at Illinois' Cornerstone Festival (where I saw most of the bands on this album play live), after witnessing Zao put on the greatest musical performance I have ever attended, then Zao frontman, Jesse Smith, introduced me to Demon Hunter frontman, Ryan Clark. "Hey, dude," I said, "that demo on the new Solid State sampler is awesome!" If I'd realized in the moment that Clark also created the sampler's artwork, which I also think rules, I would have complimented him on that, as well.
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| The only thing this artwork is missing is toes, so I provided a couple. |
There are many highlights here--you've got a rare Zao track, during a period where Corey Darst handled vocals. That version of Zao cut a three song demo, and the best song of that batch, the headbanger friendly, "The Icarus Complex" is featured on Volume 3. There's a brutal track from "Still Breathing," a band featuring a female frontman...a rarity in the heavy scene in general at that time. I saw Still Breathing at Cornerstone and the vocalist's live vocals were on point.
There's Living Sacrifice's percussive "Bloodwork," from their incredible The Hammering Process. There's even a song with no screaming, Embodyment's "Belly Up," showcasing that band's new strange, but awesome blend of radio rock with downtuned guitars and heavy drums. There's just a lot to like here. The only issue is, and it's the same with just about any comp, there isn't any kind of album flow, and all the heaviness does start to drone on just a little bit. Don't expect to go on any type of emotional journey (like I'm having writing this review). These are just 17 good, sometimes great heavy songs, the most songs on any Solid State sampler to date. A good chunk of them can't be found on Spotify, either. The CD still costs nearly the same on Amazon as it did 18 years ago, though.
And finally, there's yet another reason I have a soft spot for compilations like this. I never really had the chance to get my music career off the ground. The only officially released track I had anywhere was the song "Without End" on the Kidsleep Records sampler. Kidsleep is defunct now, and I haven't recorded any music in years, but I'm still thankful that they released something that, back in 2007, both featured my music and was available to purchase in music stores. That sampler still survives today on Bandcamp. Cool.
2002 Solid State Records
1. Project 86 "Spy Hunter (Demo Version)" 3:22
2. Demon Hunter "Through the Black (Demo Version)" 4:45
3. Zao "The Icarus Complex" 2:31
4. Still Breathing "Sweet Wound Sour" 3:48
5. Underoath "Letting Go of Tonight" 1:53
6. Eso-Charis "The Narrowing List" 4:31
7. Living Sacrifice "Bloodwork" 4:13
8. Stretch Arm Strong "For the Record" 2:06
9. Extol "Of Light And Shade" 4:45
10. Soul Embraced "Still As You" 2:49
11. Embodyment "Belly Up" 3:32
12. Narcissus "November '94" 3:11
13. Norma Jean/Luti-Kriss "Light Blue Collar" 3:29
14. Blindside "Act" 3:46
15. Few Left Standing "Burn Me To The Ground" 1:36
16. Society's Finest "Knife Fight" 5:31
17. Soapbox "Gone" 2:49
Comments
2. I don't know why they'd pick one of Extol's worst songs.
3. Is there anything more metal than being introduced to Ryan Clark by Jesse Smith?!
4. That's very cool your song was included on a compilation. The artwork makes me happy (but is the antithesis of this Solid State artwork).
2. I didn't mention it in the review, but I agree! They had so many other better songs at the time.
3. It was the most metal moment of my life.
4. Hahahahahahha. Most definitely.