There have been and always will be many ways to approach music, and, clearly, that’s a mentality that plagues many bands nowadays as they ponder as to how to create a new experience that they can feel proud of performing and one that other people can enjoy. But for others, it comes as naturally as breathing and they become real powerhouses of new material as some will even go as far as to create completely new groups to satiate their need for new music. That’s what seems to have happened with the experienced musicians who came together to create Sollar and, ultimately, this debut album that shows plenty of talent at its core, but with plenty of room for improvement.

Debuts have long been the sort of thing that I go into expecting quite possibly anything from the material being an incoherent mess to a fucking masterpiece as, much like every album, the quality varies from band to band in every scenario. In the case of Sollar, I found myself definitely into what this act has thrown down onto the table with these ten, organic tracks that know how to pack a real punch, but they didn’t always hit their mark. They were close if not spot-on in some instances, but the subtle intricacies strewn throughout “Translucent” constantly breathed new life into this record for me as Sollar did a truly valiant effort come to the end. While my biggest issue with this record is how the flow and overall union of the instruments along with the vocals can feel really clunky at times, Sollar managed to pull itself back together every single time to deliver us a listen that’s chock-full of the occasional riff, flashy progressive goodness while still keeping it on the low end, vocals that are really something to behold, and a terrific roaming through the sonic range of the style that really makes “Translucent” feel like just that in plenty of instances. After halfway through the album, I simply couldn’t stop listening as Sollar truly had me right in their grasp as their approach was not only satisfying but incredibly intoxicating as they knew just what to do to keep your interest peaked and how to keep everything interesting so that “Translucent” doesn’t become a sleeper halfway through.

Many acts have tried something similar to what we’ve seen here as Sollar brings us their first humble offering as a band, but only a select few have accomplished making it actually something worth looking into and eventually coming back to. “Translucent” itself has plenty of places where I feel it could be much better, but I implore to not let that distract you from the greatness that can very easily bud from this promising debut.

LISTEN to “Translucent” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Sollar on Facebook here.