Holland Is Made of Tofu

From the eastern Netherlands city of Enschede comes yet another gem in the dutch underground, Solarisis. Started as a solo project by former Deification member Gijs van Ouwerkerk, Solarisis released two demo tapes before recording this first full length one-man effort "Holland Is Made Of Tofu". The name raised a lot of questions and hilarities, and is a parody on the 'Holland is made of cheese' commercial campaign of the mid-ninetees. Gijs, being a strickt vegan, is not to be having these milk byproducts and the name in itself is a statement of his lifestyle. Having little affinity with veganism, I'll get to the music part of the review straight away.

Solarisis plays a brand of melodic death metal that is best described as 'old school'. It combines early ninetees Florida sounds with the typical English death and doom metal style that was highly popular in that same era. Imagine a crossbreed of Gorefest (their 'False' period) with Bolt-Thrower, just a hint of Deicide (especially in the vocal dynamics) and a good dose of etherial, floaty keyboard sections for that doomy flavor.
I have to state again that Gijs recorded every instrument himself and, allthough being a proficient drummer, used a drum computer. Normally I loathe drum computers in metal, but he's made very decent use of it and after two listens I stopped minding it alltogether.

Opening track 'Life Is Better Unborn' is a great uptempo thrasher with awesome choruses, supported by Nocturnus-like synth parts. Lyrically, Gijs makes his point very clear; an immense hatred against unbridled mass consumption and the pain it causes to society.
'My Fair Share Of Solitude' is almost a death metal ballad, as awkward as this may seem. Br00tal dm fans may think it's 'pussy' to sing about love and the search for a soulmate, but I can very much relate to these themes, especially when they are wrapped in a slowed down, grooving and crushing shape like in this song.
After a manic interlude ('Insect Season', one of the two instrumental tracks), my favorite track of the album kicks off: 'Essence Among The Stars'. Gijs utilizes his clean vocals here, which are definitely a matter of taste (personally I think they work well), but takes the chorus with his deep growling vocals. The music is carried by a steady three fourth waltzing beat and creates a very mellow mood. The perfect moment comes halfway through the song, when the keyboards introduce a wonderful melody that starts out alone and then is picked up by the rest of the instruments. Heartshattering.

Other highlights include 'Race Me Back To Eden' with its great uptempo dynamics and high factor of catchiness and the all-out thrasher 'Breed Of Burden'. 'Under The Sun' can't be left unmentioned, for it too is a monster track and Deicide must be named as an inspiration to the pre-chorus. And it's such a joy to be chanting along with the chorus: "Under the Sun! Under the...SUN!". Grooving but still uncommercial and original death metal doesn't get any better than this.

In conclusion, 'Holland Is Made Of Tofu' is a very diverse and totally addictive album that should appeal to people who appreciate originality and great melodies in their death metal. Forever Underground and loving it, Solarisis has made a monument of this, its first album.