Reject The Sickness – “Chains Of Solitude” [Album Review]

There were times during Chains Of Solitude, the new album from Belgian progressive death metal quintent, when it felt like it was never going to end. You see, while there is no doubting the musical prowess flowing through the collective minds of these Belgians, listening to Chains Of Solitude quickly became something of an arduous task.

Being honest though, this is something of a common theme I find running through this whole genre of music. Yes, there are plenty of jaw-dropping moments where you really have to try and keep up with what you’re listening to but, and Chains Of Solitude is a prime example of this, unless you’re the kind of person who sits their dissecting every note, every time change, every beat, in painstaking detail, albums like this become a challenge.

Sure there are good tracks, songs like “Depravity” and “Heaven Burns Black” where the Belgians smash through their songs with relentless brutality, but there are also moments like the droning “Alone” which really stop the album in its tracks. Thankfully a pristine production job helps their cause because, quite frankly, anything less and this already challenging album would have fallen flat on its face.

Ultimately Chains Of Solitude is an album that suffers from a young band trying to run before they can properly walk. On the evidence of this release it won’t be long before the progressive extremists are absolutely flying but, as moments of this album painfully show, there is still a little way before the Belgians can run with the big hitters of the progressive death metal scene.

Track Listing:

01. Intro
02. Chains Of Solitude
03. My Agony
04. Only Darkness Is Real
05. Depravity
06. Psychopath
07. Alone
08. Heaven Turns Black
09. Hopeless
10. Seedless
11. The Fire’s Burning

Run Time: 41:26
Release Date: November 13, 2015

Check out the track “Hopeless” here.