Salute the June #solstice with a #BMOP-coded #summer celebration! The all-premiere program includes three new works:

Paul Moravec / Miami Variations (2025)
Avner Dorman / Inner Fire (2025)
John Aylward / History of the World (2025)
Bernard Rogers / Symphony No. 5 “Africa” (1959)

Tickets for this June 21 #concert are free / https://bmop.org/performances/bmop-presents-premiere⁴/

For those who celebrate, may the #Beltane fires awaken your spirit and guide toward renewal.

#MayDay is a #crossquarter day, falling halfway between the #vernalequinox and the #summersolstice

photograph of National Monument on Calton Hill, Edinburgh, during the 2007 annual Beltane Fire Festival, by B. McAdam via WikiMedia Commons (CC-BY-SA 2.0 G)
#calendar #timekeeping #seasons #astronomy #equinox #solstice

A Tabular Iceberg, Seen at the Pack-Edge in the South Pacific (1900) by Frederick Albert Cook, from Through the First Antarctic Night, 1898–1899.

Source: University of Toronto Libraries / Internet Archive

https://pdimagearchive.org/images/399b6e86-2e82-4d6a-acfa-21b4390759e5

#solstice #exploration #ice #marine #antarctic #antarctica #icebergs #penguins #geography #midwinter #light #landscapes #oceans #darkness #art #publicdomain

One from the archives for #PhotoMonday

I love this shot, taken - more by chance than any great skill or patience - on solstice dawn at Stonehenge, June 2022

#photography #photographyart #dawn #solstice #Stonehenge #NewAgeTravellerCommunity #nomad #nomadism

When I think about Miami, the first things that come to mind are excellent empanadas, terrible traffic, and Cynic. What doesn’t come to mind is thrash, although I’ve learned that the Magic City has some history in this regard (Solstice). Thrash quintet Acidosis currently resides in Los Angeles, but their own history dates back to a Miami high school in the mid-to-late 2000s, where frontperson Ben Katzman and guitarist Diego Edsel first formed the band. Arrival, Acidosis’s long-gestating debut album, re-records and reimagines songs Katzman, Edsel, and crew first concocted when they were teenagers. Acidosis may lie their heads in La La Land, but the flamingo-pink background and seafoam-green eyelid tentacles adorning that cover clearly aim to put Miami on the thrash map.1

Arrival is a survivor story, in more ways than one. After dissolving Acidosis, Katzman served stints in several other acts and even competed in season 46 of Survivor.2 In reforming the band, Katzman and Edsel enlist the talents of Harry Schwarz (drums), Jonathan Rusten (rhythm guitars), and Deo Budnevich (lead guitars) to create Arrival, a 9-song, 26-minute thrash incursion.3 Acidosis channels Municipal Waste in wasting no time with long songs, favoring crossovery bangers filled with riffs more rambunctious than a pitbull. “Arrival” opens things up with a sly devil, “They Live!” keeps the party going with punk energy, and “Hostile Negotiations” caps nifty pull-offs and speedy power chords with a delicious tag. Later on, Acidosis conjure the classics, with riffing reminiscent of the chromaticism of Megadeth (“Mankind”) and the stomp-age of Anthrax (“Deadly Fits”). I have no idea how much/little these songs have changed since Katzman and crew were in high school, but Arrival’s riffs have survived the test of time.

Arrival by Acidosis

Ben Katzman ultimately supplies the fuel that powers this Miami Thrash Machine. As a vocalist, he sounds like a less shouty, more tuneful Tony Foresta (Municipal Waste). Katzman knows how to implant a titular line in the listener’s head (“Hostile Negotiations,” “Mankind”) and when to throw some anthemic ‘whoas’ into the mix (“They Live!”). As a bassist, he is equally integral to imbuing Acidosis with its unique charm. Whether (re)charing songs with a bass break (“They Live!,” “Where I Stand”) or shredding a low-end solo (“Hostile Negotiations”), Katzman kills it on the four strings, with a tone that is just the right amount of distorted and clangy. Arrival is clearly Katzman’s passion project, and his passion shines throughout.

Alas, no album with roots in Vice City was going to pass without sin. While I appreciate the spirit of succinct songwriting here, some tracks are definitely in need of more flesh. “Hostile Negotiations” is a banger that would benefit from bridge development, and album-closer “Where I Stand” opens with a country western lick that implies scope that isn’t realized. Switching from slothful songwriting to gluttonous album-craft: the interludes are completely unnecessary. Arrival isn’t even ten minutes old before “Interlude” breaks up the thrash action, and “Interlude 2” intervenes after only two more tracks that total less than nine minutes. These interludes, though short, disrupt the energetic pace, lengthening an album that’s chief virtue is its brevity. Arrival also suffers from inconsistent soloing. Edsel and Budnevich trade off on many of these tracks, revealing that one of these shredders is stronger than the other. Unfortunately, there are several moments where uncontrolled guitar wrath rears its ugly head, with solos sounding like they’re struggling (“Mankind,” “Deadly Fits”).

Having hypocritically cast my critical stones, I will say that none of these sins are deadly. The long-awaited Arrival of Acidosis is a fun time, certainly worth a 26-minute investment from thrashers and metalheads more broadly. Acidosis play a familiar style with no real innovation, but they stamp it with their own personality, much of which stems from Katzman’s presence as a frontman and essential bassist. Add Acidosis to the list of things I positively associate with Miami—I’ll scope out the line if and when they serve up their next platter of thrash turnovers.

Rating: 3.0/5.04
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Self-Released
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: March 27th, 2026

2018-2025

It is a great relief to finally declare my departure from Solstice. Although we went our separate ways last June, I chose to embargo any revelation until the band were good and ready to say it themselves. Nine months later, their Equinox announcement offers opportunity to reflect on the seven years I spent on bass duties.

I joined Solstice in 2018, having left previous band The Enchanted around fifteen years prior. Being a long-time fan since the demo days, the chance to play the songs I grew up on was sufficient to coax me out of retirement. Coming back to the challenge of making music instead of just appreciating it, it took a while for rusty hands to find their form, with weekly rehearsals in Huddersfield essential to getting my playing up to scratch.

Although that year closed as I took tentative steps back on stage in London, it was in 2019 that the journey took stride. Playing to thousands across Europe at Keep It True, Up The Hammers, and Party.San, it was a privilege to share these festivals with highly lauded artists and a passionate fanbase – to whom I always bore my heart in performance.

Starting 2020 strong with shows in Rome and a Belgian castle, any momentum soon crashed to a halt – along with the events industry and world in general. With entire populations placed under house arrest, it was hard to persist under the immediacy of making sense of the moment.

Band members came and went, and others declared their opposition to the age with vociferous conviction – earning enmity for unyielding words. It was a very different Solstice that emerged from these trials three years later…

… and one that never quite gelled with me as it once did. Suddenly finding myself in the firing line for words spoken by others, with dishonourable demands to distance or discredit, I felt doors close far faster than they had opened. The message, and the perceived need to set and be set an example in all arguments, became louder than the music.

Inspired again by the label signing, I continued with a number of high profile gigs through 2024. Ever alert to physical reprisal threatened in forums, the distractions were high and my playing sometimes sloppy, with joyless tension far tauter than any string. Pulling in professional effort before I started my Academy studies culminated in a far more successful September which saw a standout show at Prophecy Fest and a mini-tour across Finland.

With members dispersed across England and Wales, in-person rehearsals were few and far between, and time spent together increasingly bitter as frustrations came to the fore. Unaccustomed to playing remotely and home recording beyond synth-dabbles, I struggled with the new way of doing things and especially not meeting bandmates for months on end.

Balancing the band with studies and weekend work was a challenge in itself, and although I prioritised rehearsals in my calendar, short-notice cancellations and rescheduling took their toll. My final rehearsal with the band was over a year ago, and despite sustaining my availability (to the point of losing work shifts) and practising nightly between assessments, we had no further in-person contact.

It was an untenable situation, draining and unhealthy for everyone. After being presented with an unbalanced ultimatum during assessment week where my attempts to discuss the matter in person were rebuked, I chose to leave.

The relief comes from closure. My life has hardly stopped since last June, with studies and more taking precedence now I can devote my better energies towards them. I will keep the Solstice section up on the website, as to minimise my involvement would be reductive, craven cowardice.

But also I look forward to the long-awaited next album, having played a part in its foundation. There is some magnificent music to come, whenever it comes, and I will eagerly listen with the same spirit as those in the front row who inspired me to continue.