[4] Following stints as lead guitarist for both Sugartooth and Slap Rocket, Southard reformed the band in 1996 with Hultz and former Glueneck singer Jason, naming the revamped outfit Solace.
A cover by metal art veteran Wes Benscoter (Slayer's Divine Intervention) hinted at darkness within the album, which was quickly considered a departure from the stoner rock pigeon-hole the band had already been put into.
Considered by some to be musically superior to its predecessor,[6] 13 helped Solace further define themselves as more than simply stoner rock, assisted by the vocals and guitar work of doom metal guitarist Scott Weinrich on the track "Common Cause".
On the heels of that successful tour, they were signed to independent label Small Stone Records, after which they were asked by friends Orange Goblin to play their annual Christmas show in London.
Solace's set was capped by band friend and fellow New Jerseyan Ed Mundell of Monster Magnet joining them onstage for their cover of Pentagram's "Forever My Queen".
This, while being a seemingly negative turn of events, had in actuality quite a positive effect - it opened the door for Solace's original drummer[8] Keith Ackerman to rejoin the band.
This setback did not stop them from returning to the studio once Lund recovered in 2005 to begin work on tracks for A.D. Later that year, the band faced yet another hurdle — this time in the form of undisclosed personal problems and were forced to cancel a coast-to-coast US tour.
Shortly thereafter, they released a cassette single featuring this cover as well as a new original song, "Bird of Ill Omen," which was described as having "characteristic intensity, volume, and unbridled rhythmic force".