Budapest-based experimental post-hardcore quintet Shell Beach merges dreamlike ambiance with hardcore heft in Solar Flare (Wild Thing). As a well-respected and admired underground Hungarian group within the rock scene, the band has expanded and honed its talent and lineup.
As the entire world experienced and was influenced by it, albeit varied from person to person, Solar Flare naturally touches on the Covid-19 pandemic, struggles with mental health, loss, and rebirth, and the fight to keep marching onwards despite life’s curveballs.
“The lyrics deal with a difficult period in my life and I processed my confusion in them,” vocalist Zoltán Bodóczy explains of the album’s thematics. “Everything’s here: breakup, depression, starting again, failure, new love, unfinished business. From this cavalcade, I was able to highlight some ideas and these served as the basis of the lyrics. We tried to arrange the order of the tracks in such a way that a story emerges from the album as a whole.”
Trudging guitar and unclean vocals rip through the air as the album kicks off with ‘Dismembering Games’. It’s a punch to the face as far as album introductions go, and rightfully so given the content inspiration. At the end of the song, the vocals die down and are replaced with a lengthy yet powerful guitar solo filled with sweeps and trills. Bodóczy shouts repeatedly “dismembering!” before screaming “games!” as the guitars buzz and fade out.
‘Absolution’ comes in a touch tamer as clean vocals and harmonies are introduced to the track, which then melts in a melodic guitar riff. Within this dreamy quality, the song discusses the finality of nearly all things and waiting for time to make it all a memory, and then for that memory to be forgotten.
Buzzy and gently reverberated, ‘Hero’ swoops in before becoming potent, crashing, and loud in the chorus. In some instances, the clean vocals simultaneously mirror the same notes as the guitar before the song pulls back into the more melodic tune.
The first single from the album, ‘Love Craft – House of Death’, encapsulates the beautiful balance between light and heavy embellishments. “Since I am a big Lovecraft fan and this short story is one of my favourites, it was obvious to “borrow” these terrible, horrific images to describe the situation,” Bodóczy says of the single. “A complete separation from reality, an unearthly emotional world of despair. And the author’s name appears in the title as a kind of pun, which suggests that love as a craft cannot be pursued without sacrifices.”
‘Feeble Glory’ takes a more upbeat approach, and it’s apparent where a prior album collaborator, Matt Geise (formerly of Dance Gavin Dance), perhaps influenced the tone of the song. The techno aspect married to the stop-start riffs and subdued but fast sweeps gives a nod to the Swancore genre.
‘Miracle Misdemeanor’ kicks it back to a more classic Alt-Rock tune, while ‘Black Hole’s My Horizon’ is a literal space trek. It opens with rocket lift-off dialogue and a countdown leads us into the song. It is gentle and clear– layered with clean, reverberated guitar and vocal harmonies. It showcases the band’s diversity to flip to an ambient, mellow tone.
‘Hydra’ continues the ambient melody with breathy, soaring vocals. The song ebbs and flows between calm verses and amped up choruses with unclean vocals and plucky guitar. With the more complex layered vocal harmonies, Bodóczy highlights his vocal ability which feels to be missing or hidden from other tracks.
Strumming bass picks up the pace in ‘My Devil and More’ which shapes up to be a forceful track that leaves the ambiance behind, yet ‘Agitation Divine’ picks the ambiance back up again and reduces the pace once more. The chorus has powerful harmonies that reminisce Incubus’ ‘Wish You Were Here’. The push and pull of the album tracks can be a touch jarring as they go between hardcore and melodic/atmospheric styles. It would be interesting to hear the group fully blend the two elements together instead of separating styles by track with only bits of the other peppered in.
Closing the album is a cover of the hit ‘Olyan Szépek Voltunk’ (We Were So Beautiful) written by Shell Beach guitarist Paul Somló’s late father, Tamás Somló (Omega and Lokomotiv GT), Somló stating “’Olyan Szépek Voltunk’ is a very beautiful song from my father, which was a big hit in the nineties, and still a very well known song here in Hungary. I remember when I was around 24-25 and always played on my father’s guitar at his place for hours when I was staying there, and once I played the chords of ‘Be Quiet And Drive’ by Deftones, and turned out if I sing my dad’s song on top of it, it would almost fit as a mashup. So I decided to do an acoustic cover of this song, and for many years it was in my mind to somehow turn it into a rock band version. After my father passed away, and I started to write this record, it was a must for me to finally make this cover, and this is the only song which I sing entirely. I dedicate this song to my dad and his immortal legacy.”
Buy the album here:
https://ffm.to/shellbeach_solarflare
8 / 10
JESSIE FRARY