Despite any other claims, there are in fact plenty of rules, written and unwritten, in the glorious and chaotic realm of Metaldom. First and foremost among them, whether followed religiously or righteously ignored, is that the music comes first. Sometimes it comes down to gimmicks, other times the issue is output. Bands with consistent and quality output tend to remain in the public consciousness for longer.

Consider SCARS OF SOLITUDE. Hailing from central Finland, this Melodic/Pop Punk paradox has been around since the mid-2010's, putting out a demo and a handful of singles until their debut full-length, 2017's "Deformation". Following that has been another, much longer string of singles leading into "If These Walls Could Talk", an EP out since November '21.

The mixture of Melodic Metal and a 2000's Pop Punk sound is at least part of the game here. The opener "Dark Matter" is clear on that, doing a competent, underwhelming, but ultimately mistake-free job of it, and "No Riddance" stays in that lane. The ender "Burden" has a melancholic, sad-over-heavy start, building up to something that works two-thirds in, then takes a Gothy overtone for the last thirty seconds before abruptly ending.

The band really shines, however, when they lean into their Melodic side. The title track is the first to do this, going back and forth between intense Melodic bursts and periods of reeling back for another explosion. The follower "Lullaby Of The Ill-Fated" doesn't even take the time to scale down, remaining consistently a powerful Melodic tune flavored by just a little bit of soaring Goth. This song really works.

And, that's it really, and for what it's worth, there's the possibility for the band's faithful to see "If These Walls Could Talk" as a cop-out via EP. Anyone waiting for the band's sophomore album to be out by now could be left wondering why they didn't just write a few more songs and put more flesh on these bones. But, if SCARS OF SOLITUDE is intent on making each effort a learning experience, they may do some good for themselves in continuing to explore their heavier side.

Whatever they decide to do, anticipation for the full-length followup will decidedly wane if they wait too long and play the piecemeal game in the meantime. The metal end of the music industry has always been a fickle one, especially now during a positive glut of pandemic-born acts. SCARS OF SOLITUDE seem able to break through, now they just need to want it badly enough.