Remastered rare material from early Solitude Aeturnus days including the legendary "Justice" demo tracks - 9 classic tracks available for the first time. Limited edition gatefold vinyl LP - 500 handnumbered copies.
The tracklisting is as follows:
'It Came Upon One Night'
'Transcending Sentinels'
'Into Battle'
'Sojourner'
'Where Angels Dare To Tread'
'Rememberance Of A Life '
'And Justice For All '
'Sojourner '
'Mirror Of Sorrow'
http://undegroundzinescommunity.wordpress.com/2011/08/05/primal-dawn-the-euthaxasia-programme-promo-mcd/#comment-6
ВідповістиВидалитиhttp://darknesswishangels.wordpress.com/2011/08/13/darkness-wish-angels-live-at-viktoria-08-09-2011/#comment-295
http://darknesswishangels.eu5.org/blog/?p=341#respond
Written by Eric Bryan
ВідповістиВидалитиPublished on 7/31/2011
There is something to be said of demos: almost always, they are either an immature take on something that would be great (or not), or function as an obscurity, the lone relic of a music that never met the ears it was written for. Sometimes though, they are lost treasures, songs that were ruined by overproduction, legendary unsigned lineups, masterpieces that never made the album. In Times of Solitude, one of the first Solitude Aeturnus demos, lands somewhere in the midst of those traits.
Receiving the reissue treatment from Massacre Records, In Times of Solitude (originally released in 1999 by Doomed Planet), reflects one of the true greats of US doom metal in their infancy, stretching their wings to fly to the underground heights that they would eventually reach. Of the demo tracks, 3 of the 5 (“It Came Upon One Night,” “Transcending Sentinels,” and “Where Angels Dare to Tread.”) would appear on subsequent full-lengths. Though slightly changed on their later appearances, they are relatively similar. Included also are “Sojourner” and “In Battle,” two songs of definite quality (the former especially) that never appeared on any album, and a selection of rehearsal tracks which are largely of rehearsal quality. Throughout, the band is in great form, exuberant and confidant in their riffing, lyrically impressive and energetic.
The story is not in what is here, but instead in what is not.
The vocalist performing on In Times of Solitude is one Kris Gabehardt. While not a bad vocalist, and certainly par for the course for most US doom metal, he lacks emotion, conviction and invention. Said traits just happen to be three things that his imminent successor, one Robert Lowe, has in spades. The switch from Gabehardt to Lowe would be one akin to such switches as Langqvist to Marcolin or Atkins to Halford. While the music the former singers performed over may have been stellar, the voice was transitionary no matter how talented they may have been. The bands needed to find the right singer to find their real voice.
So In Times of Solitude is a growing pain. While it yields decent enough results and has shockingly good production for a demo, the songs lack the proper emotion. Depth is sacrificed then, and doom without depth is simply not captivating enough. It takes that narration, that warning in the mist to really make doom metal complete. This collection is simply incomplete. It's a suitable collector's item certainly, but more than anything, it's a stumbling baby-step on the path to the throne.
http://metalreview.com/reviews/6297/solitude-aeturnus-in-times-of-solitude
By Rob Kachluba
ВідповістиВидалитиI recently received In Times Of Solitude in the mail from Massacre Records and I gotta say, this is a must for diehard Solitude Aeturnus fans. Of the nine tracks, longtime vocalist Robert Lowe only sings on tracks eight and nine, a live rehearsal and “Mirror Of Sorrow”. Their original vocalist sings on their original five-song demo, a couple of these songs went on to be on their debut album: “Transcending Sentinels,” “Where Angels Fear to Tread” and “Mirror of Sorrow.” Original vocalist Chris was not a bad singer. He’s not as powerful as Lowe but he wrote great lyrics and had an unorthodox delivery. First track “It Came Upon One Night” is just an awesome track. Tons of Trouble style riffs with even a mid-paced Metal Church riff in it. For you collector nerds, the LP comes in a gatefold sleeve, housing clear vinyl and tons of liner notes of their early beginnings, as documented by John Perez. As I said before, a must for fans of the band, just make sure not to wait too long, as this is a hand-numbered edition out of 500 copies.
http://www.hellbound.ca/2011/08/solitude-aeturnus-in-times-of-solitude/
Written by Petra Whiteley Monday, 04 July 2011 08:56
ВідповістиВидалитиSOLITUDE AETURNUS was founded in 1987 and this release ‘In Times Of Solitude’ is tied to this era of their earliest career. What is collected here? You’ll find some rare songs, demo versions and songs taken out of rehearsal sessions and one live performance. Their sound seems to share some similarities with CANDLEMASS; their current singer Rob Lowe replaced the former CANDLEMASS singer Messiah Marcolin, no surprise there then. The songs throughout show a great way of fusing both styles, the Power metal making it more epic and the narrative pronounced. The vocal style presents definitely the “epic doom”.
‘Transcending Sentinels’ is a great example of Doom metal, the atmospheric synths and poetic guitars in melancholy mode, before it breaks into a faster tempo, the song sounds prophetic and I love the riffs here, the guitar solo and speed break the Doom position, it’s my second favourite of the album. After speedy ‘Into Battle’ and mid-epic ‘Sojourner’ we’re into the low distorted guitars in ‘Where Angels Dare To Tread’ and the thickly despairing dark mass of despair. ‘Remembrance of a Life’ unfortunately hasn’t got a good sound quality, but it’s taken from rehearsal session (1987). It seems to be loosely influenced by a bit of Punk as well... but maybe that’s due to the sound quality itself, what comes out the most is the fast work on drums and at times but when the guitars come to it, it starts sounding as someone’s feet kicking the floor rather than drumming. Vocal feels as if coming from somewhere far or as if the singer had a cloth in his mouth, and the guitars are drowned out by the bad quality of the recording all the way through the song.
The next song from their live performance at Joes Garage ‘And Justice For All’ is beleaguered by the bad quality of recording too. You can hardly hear anything with any shred of clarity. It’s nice to hear the interaction of the singer with the audience. For the song itself, it’s mostly like standing one or two streets from an open air gig, that’s how bad the quality is though at least the guitars are more audible here. On the other hand that can introduce nostalgia for old times as much as the older song material. A ‘Mirror of Sorrow’ kicks in with much better sound quality (thanks God!) and it’s simply a superb song, evocative, powerful, epic, layered, the vocals are impressive. It also sounds towards the more modern Doom metal - a far ahead track for that time for SOLITUDE AETURNUS. It’s truly outstanding, begging many repeats...
This is certainly a treat for their fan base, but also interesting to others, who would be interested to hear something from ‘way back then’ - regarding history of the genre. The quality of the recordings whilst not great passes for decent enough, I wonder if it could have been re-mastered better, but it’s a great release regardless.
http://www.reflectionsofdarkness.com/artists-p-t-cdreviews-134/9811-cd-review-solitude-aeturnus-in-times-of-solitude.html