Solitary Way - s/t CD

Akustický projekt Victora z kapel Badlands/Soultamer.

Acoustic project from Victor from bands Badlands/Soultamer.

1. Lionheart

2. Soul and form

3. A dream within a dream

4. Traitor

5. Solitary way

6. Man became one with the gods

7. True to yourself

8. City streets

9. You did not believe in me

10. Propaganda

11. My life

12. The greatest sacrifice

13. Too young to die

14. The soil doesn't bear my name

Review American Oi:

Fester Records is a new Dutch label and their goal is to release out of the ordinary records that crush the boundaries between different forms of underground music. In other words, this label can go all ways and their debut release of Solitary Way might not only be the first, but also the last release, that gets reviewed on here, time will tell. For new let?s check out Fester Records? first release.

 

As said, the self-titled album of Solitary Way is Fester Records debut release, as well as it is the band?s debut release. Although I say band Solitary Way is a solo project of Victor Nefkens, the singer and guitarist that is known from both Badlands and Soultamer. With Solitary Way Victor goes back to the roots and it?s just him, his fantastic voice, songwriting and acoustic guitar. If you are a frequent reader of this website you might have noticed I am a big fan of Badlands and although Badlands? sound have grown so much over the years its first release ?False Gestures? is still one of, if not, my favorite Badlands records. Solitary Way reminds me a lot of that album.

 

Because just like ?False Gestures? Solitary Way has a pure sound that comes straight from the heart with magnificent lyrics. At first I thought there were some real sad and depressing songs on here and it kept me thinking if everything was okay with Victor. But although his lyrics are full of melancholy, there always seems to be a ?happy end? to his personal lyrics like he sings on the opening track ?Lionheart? ?Going to burn my bridges today, a brand new future shall have it?s say. The past is gone, gonna make a new start. Born again with a lionheart? to the last song of the album ?The Soil Doesn?t Bear My Name? ?My home town almost buried me alive, but I managed to tear apart it?s narrow frame. With every mile behind me I feel more alive?. There?s also a lot of anger in songs like ?Traitor?, ?Solitary Way? and ?You Did Not Believe In Me?, along with two earlier mentioned tracks it seems like the past is a closed book and this might just include the end of Badlands, it sure feels like it but then again, who knows?

 

All in all Solitary Way?s debut album contains 14 songs and clocks around 29 minutes, but 14 songs you can have on repeat all day. Anything that comes out of Victor?s pen seems to turn into musical gold and Solitary Way is no exception to this and proves Victor Nefkens is one of the best singer-songwriters the Dutch, perhaps the European, or maybe the worldwide punk scene has to offer. Simply amazing songs once again.