VINTERBRIS describe themselves as "melodic black metal", which is fitting here. Acoustic guitars pepper songs laden with distinctly black metal elements such as rasped vocals, blast beats and tremolo picking. The genre of melodic black metal is arguably not having its boundaries pushed at the moment, so it was interesting to see what this group of Norwegians did with it.

While the band doesn't bring anything radically new to the melodic black metal table, the members are good at what they do and the music is enjoyable. Unfortunately, the tracks tend to become a bit "samey" towards the middle of the album. It's a good thing then that the band kept things short and sweet at 36 minutes long. The elements from other genres keep things interesting, such as the folk-style acoustic passages. The acoustic part in opener "Dysphoria" evokes early AGALLOCH. A hint of progressiveness appears in longer tracks such as "The Aurora of Despair" and "Gazing at a Fallen Sky".

For the most part, the band retains a straightforward sound that is stripped of ostentatious flashiness. The tempos alternate between a fast, blast beat sort of pace and slower, folksy parts, which keeps their formula fresh for the majority of the time.

There is still something alluring to their music, and I found very few negatives to mention in terms of musicianship. Henrik Skar does a great job on vocals, which sound good whether he's doing a lower or higher pitched growl. I also enjoyed the interplay between the guitar work of Skar and Richard Hemre Dahle. Both bring some interesting melodies to the table, as well as some crunchy, hard-hitting riffs. There are also some brief but pleasing solos here and there, for example on "Ash Alight" and "The Aurora of Despair".

"Solace" is a solid release which is entertaining despite not ultimately making an impact on the scene. Albums don't always need to be revelatory to be enjoyed.