{"id":511843,"date":"2026-04-04T03:17:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T03:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/511843\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T03:17:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T03:17:15","slug":"solnegre-anthems-for-the-grand-collapse-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/511843\/","title":{"rendered":"SolNegre – Anthems for the Grand Collapse Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Just off Spain\u2019s Mediterranean coast lie the Balearic Islands. Among the approximately 1.2 million island residents is a cadre of musicians who appear to have played together in a variety of projects for some time. SolNegre comprises four of these musicians along with a handful of guest contributors. Based on the photos of the beautiful sandy beaches and clear blue water, you might think these guys would play a cheerful genre like Beach Boys-core. Yet, even the beach life must have its woes because what SolNegre deliver is a slab of melancholic doom that has more in common with My Dying Bride<\/a> or Saturnus<\/a> than any band playing songs about Pi\u00f1a coladas. Just the sight of their apocalyptic album title, Anthems for the Grand Collapse, makes me want to soak in one of those lovely beaches to rinse off the bleakness. Let\u2019s dive in and see how well these island dwellers do the sadboi.<\/p>\n

While the intro for opener, \u201cThe Axiom \u2013 Song for the Inert Part II,\u201d reveals SolNegre\u2019s flair for using synths to create atmosphere, the meat of the song establishes their mix of crushing My Dying Bride riffs and growls with the more energetic death\/doom of Novembers Doom<\/a>. A hooky melodic lead wends its way throughout, culminating in an ambitious solo that takes the lead to new levels. The incredibly catchy follow-up, \u201cThe Hollow Inside,\u201d includes a chorus that potentially has appeal for a mainstream audience, even if the track goes off in decidedly non-mainstream directions. The flip side to the death\/doom is an Ennui<\/a>-level funeral doom tune that casts a pall over the already dour mood (\u201cFor All that Could Have Been\u201d). SolNegre play sorrowful tunes in an impressively varied number of ways.<\/p>\n

\ufeffThe Axiom \u2013 Song for the Inert Part 2 by SolNegre<\/a><\/p>\n

The band members\u2019 strong chemistry shows in their talent and cohesiveness. \u00dbkh lays down a powerful vocal performance with some muscular death growls. He adds heft and punch alongside an impressively bass-heavy guitar attack. Gebre proves to be the glue that adheres the record together. His deep, chugging bass features on nearly every track, and he also gets to play a nifty jazz solo midway through \u201cThe Hollow Within.\u201d Guest contributors add some varied character throughout, such as a solo from Mike Le Rosetti that comprises almost the entire back half of \u201cThe Axiom\u201d and some cleans from Pedro Ingl\u00e9s during the jazzy segue on \u201cThe Hollow Within.\u201d SolNegre hands the reins over to recurring guest singer Gadea es Ineseta and violinist N\u00faria Luis on the remarkably lovely \u201cIn the Stillness of the Womb.\u201d Though it skews more soft rock than extreme metal, it features such poignant and affecting performances from Ineseta and Luis that it feels right at home among these anthems to a grand collapse.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

20260102_224403<\/p>\n

A few iffy songwriting decisions do keep Anthems for the Grand Collapse from greatness, however. For one, SolNegre struggle with coherent lyrics on some tracks. This is especially problematic on \u201cThe Hollow Within,\u201d where an awkward attempt at a metaphor combining loneliness, water, and drowning leads to the laughably bad line, \u201cA room without doors or windows \/ Knowing how to swim is wise.\u201d It\u2019s a sore part of an otherwise terrific song. Further, the hot and cold pacing creates a stuttering feel throughout the record, with a few tunes creeping too slowly and others creeping on a bit too long. \u201cFor All That Could Have Been\u201d in particular sags in the middle of the album. Individually, the songs are good to great, but transitions between them can be jarring.<\/p>\n

Next time you want to balance out your bright and cheery beach vacation with some downer music, you should pack SolNegre\u2019s Anthems for the Grand Collapse. It\u2019s sure to have you and your family looking to drown out your loneliness and sorrows in the warm, beautiful waters lapping at your toes. This has proven to be a solid sophomore effort from the Balearic Islands. I love to hear the passion on display, and even where the band shows some warts, it only makes the record all the more endearing. I hope those island beaches don\u2019t keep these guys happy and occupied for too long so they can put out another record sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n

Rating: 3.5\/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Meuse Music<\/a>
Websites: Bandcamp<\/a> | Facebook<\/a> | Official Site<\/a>
Releases Worldwide: April 3rd, 2026<\/p>\n

\n\tGive in to Your Anger:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just off Spain\u2019s Mediterranean coast lie the Balearic Islands. Among the approximately 1.2 million island residents is a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":511844,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[47816,19439,179081,178402,30627,6448,179082,96,179083,128,86979,179084,263,129,179085,179086,112869,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-511843","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-47816","9":"tag-3-5","10":"tag-anthems-for-the-grand-collapse","11":"tag-apr26","12":"tag-beach-boys","13":"tag-doom-metal","14":"tag-ennui","15":"tag-entertainment","16":"tag-meuse-music","17":"tag-music","18":"tag-my-dying-bride","19":"tag-novembers-doom","20":"tag-review","21":"tag-reviews","22":"tag-saturnus","23":"tag-solnegre","24":"tag-spanish-metal","25":"tag-uk","26":"tag-united-kingdom","27":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=511843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511843\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/511844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=511843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=511843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=511843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}