Solitude Aeturnus
In Times of Solitude
2011
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Solitude Aeturnus, the USA’s response to Candlemass, certainly has a place alongside their inspiration in the hall of doom. Their singer, Rob Lowe, has actually been singing in the Swedish metal machine for their last two albums. This is my first experience with Solitude Aeturnus, and so it only makes sense for there to be a great comparison between the bands.
The music, as one could assume, is epic doom metal that runs very much in the Candlemass vein. The main problem however, is that it is extremely derivative of the previously mentioned band. This is actually the EP "And Justice For All" rereleased with a couple bonus tracks thrown in for good measure. The songs are either live, rehearsals, or from demos recorded in 1987/8, and frankly, it shows. The mixing is terrible, which really brings down the quality of everything. Although, the live track of “And Justice for All” has some hilarious crowd cheering before the song.
As expected, the guitar work is perfect; slow, evil riffs are pumped out of the doom machine at a speed fitting to the music (slooow), with amazing solos popping up from time to time. The vocals are very different from what I’m used to from Rob Lowe. To quote fellow reviewer Mark/Angel, “Are they higher or Lowe-er?” Neither actually, he just uses a much cleaner wailing technique than he has on the Candlemass albums, which adds more of a foreboding atmosphere, but in times begins to annoy the listener.
There are major problems with this album, and it is entirely re-released material, so it is recommended only for the major Solitude Aeturnus fan.
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Claus’ Rating 2.0/5
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