Bridge To Solace is a Hungarian hardcore/metalcore band. Their unique sound features the devastating speed of hardcore punk, heavy metal-influenced guitar melodies and both heartfelt and political lyrics.
They currently have three releases: the debut album "Of Bitterness And Hope" features spoken word interludes by Greg Bennick (ex-Trial singer) and sung choruses; the slightly conceptual EP "Kingdom of the Dead" features female vocals. Their second full-length "Where Nightmares And Dreams Unite" was released on their European tour in May 2006.
History 2006
On a wasted night in early 2000, the idea of a band that gives wings to their musical dreams made three young men (guitarist Krisztian, bassist Laci and drummer Tamas) form the group under the name Joy’s Pride. With the addition of Adam Fellegi, a drummer maniac and member of the semi-legendary Hungarian hardcore band Newborn, the lineup was nearly complete. However, Tamas and Adam being musical masterminds (both play drums and guitars) the band was unsure if they should look for drummers or singers as Adam grabbed the microphone originally and Tamas hit the chords. Trying out an ocean of friends on different instruments followed, and 2 mostly inactive years passed when Newborn called it a day and decided not to play anymore. Zoli, the singer of Newborn was a logical idea to fill the vacant position of the singer and with the swansong of their original bands (Tamas played drums for an influential melodic punk band, who were about to call it quits as well), the side-project was set to finally make it out of the rehearsal room.
Still called Joy’s Pride, the band performed its first show on the 18th November, 2002, supporting Bane and the video tape of the show made Chris Z sign the band to his Munich based hardcore label, Let It Burn Records. Things suddenly started to speed up and 5 months after their first show the band, under the new moniker „Bridge To Solace“ already sat around in Parkplatz studios, recording the debut full-length „Of Bitterness And Hope“, 9 songs of metal spiced hardcore punk with the addition of former Trial singer and current activist-filmmaker Greg Bennick’s spoken word tracks. The record had a surprisingly good feedback and in september 2003, only after 5 local performances the band was about to start it’s first European tour, together with Paint The Town Red from Germany and Razor Crusade from Holland. Later that year, the band returned to Europe for a week-long tour supporting Walls Of Jericho.
2004 saw the band’s 2nd release coming, which was supposed to be a split CD with California hardcore heroes A.18, but due to the lineup troubles of the Californians, the split never happened, but Bridge To Solace thought they have three good new songs, so with the addition of a rerecorded and a bit rethought old song and adding a female opera singer to spice up the songs of the EP, the band wandered further in metal. 2004 was a metallic year so to say, the band opened for Cradle Of Filth and Testament in Budapest, and performed it’s first ever Sziget Festival (one of Europe’s biggest cultural events) appearance among local buddies and Children of Bodom. 2004 brought a summer tour with Nothing Gold Can Stay, and mostly weekend shows in support of „Kingdom Of The Dead“, the band’s 5-track EP, which saw the light late September.
2005 was definitely THE year for Bridge To Solace. An amazing 4-week tour with Undying in April made the band speed up a lot and brought the first loss to the family, as Krisztian Alberti, guitarplayer and all around good guy decided to quit the band after the month-long tour, focusing on his commitments as a husband and a dad. The band had to decide quick and took Balint Szollar, an extremely talented, but long-time unemployed guitarplayer. With Balint in their ranks, the band was all set to destroy. Some local festival appearances followed, another Sziget festival with probably the biggest wall of death in the history of Hungarian hardcore, a sold out Budapest show with friends The Idoru, maniac and alcohol-filled weekends all around Europe, and a new record deal with the ever-growing Dutch hardcore label GSR Music. The band had a cancelled 12 day tour, but as half of it could be saved, they decided to rock around Europe for a week in December.
2006 brought the 2nd Bridge To Solace full-length, the debut for GSR Music. The band spent some stressed out, but fun 6 weeks in studio, recording the new masterpiece, 9 tracks of metal spiced modern hardcore.
Just in time for the release of „Where Nightmares And Dreams Unite“ the band hit the road for a 20 show trip, spent most of it together with Swedish hardcore machine Raised Fist. The tour ended in a cathartic record release show in Budapest, where the band sold out the Budapest downtown venue Süss Fel Nap. July 2006 took the band on the road again, this time only 9 very hot shows, on the 9 hottest days of this summer. The stage has been shared with Finnish legends and brothers Endstand.
The band is currently playing Hungarian club shows, something they never really did throughout their early years. Teamed up with Watch My Dying and Septic, this is a package tour Hungarians should keep their eyes on!
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