Solitude Aeturnus - Adagio
Massacre Records
Doom Metal
13 songs (63:01)
Release year: 1998
Solitude Aeturnus, Massacre Records
Reviewed by Khelek
Archive review

Such an excellent band hardly needs any introduction, but to say that Solitude Aeturnus are somewhat underrated is an understatement. Outside of the doom community itself, these guys are not known as well as they should be. It was within the past year or so that I began to familiarize myself with their discography and 1998's Adagio is the second album by these guys that I have spent some serious time listening to, and it's really an excellent album in almost every respect. Everything falls into place here, similar to Through The Darkest Hour, but even a bit better in some respects.

If you like the traditional doom of the 80s (Saint Vitus, Candlemass, etc.) then this is obviously going to interest you. Big, heavy riffs and wailing guitar solos take center stage, along with the excellent singing of frontman Robert Lowe, and above all the dark and memorable atmospheres woven into every song. There really is no better example of this than on the first track Days Of Prayer. The riffs slash in quickly, backed by heavy drums and the rasps of Lowe. His voice takes higher and higher turns throughout the song, and the riffs simply never let up. By the time a swirling guitar solo sails in, you're wondering what depressive dimension you've just entered. From here things stay in the foreboding theme with Believe, another very memorable track and one that Lowe uses to show off his haunting vocal talents once again, sounding like some disembodied voice from the grave. The opening to Never sounds like some kind of death march, and the song doesn't get much faster from there. This song sounds very drawn out even though it's under 3 minutes long. You'll think 5 hours has just passed in some underground funeral procession. Idis changes things up, keeping an angry edge with hard-hitting yet still slow riffs, and thunderous drums and bass. Now for those who don't like some repetitive lines in their music, this is probably not for you. There's a lot of repetition and a lot of the same sounds throughout. Not that there aren't quicker parts of the music. A good doom band knows how to inject some speed and energy into their music; take the soloing in Idis for example. Solid, quick guitar work backed with choppy, catchy riffs. I could probably continue this for every song on the album, whether it be the almost operatic tension in Insanity's Circles or the spacey, desolate atmosphere of Empty Faith. There is no filler here. To finish the album off in style, the band does a superb rendition of Black Sabbath's classic Heaven And Hell. There's not much more to say besides listen to it.

An album this great is one that simply sets the bar a notch higher, which is exactly what Solitude Aeturnus did here. Every song, and I do mean every song, has something memorable and unique about it. I would say it is definitely a milestone for this band, and for doom metal in the 90s as a whole. This is also one of Rob Lowe's best moments in the late 90s in terms not only of his vocal performance, but also his songwriting ability. The album keeps your attention the entire time, truly immersing you in the atmospheres they create, which is no small feat given the length of the album. Many times I've heard people question the ability of doom to continue to be truly listenable and different, but when you go back to the best albums of the genre, you know that it isn't true, that it can be done amazingly well, and these guys proved it once again right here.

Killing Songs :
All of them, personal favorites are Days Of Prayer, Idis, Spiral Descent
Khelek quoted 93 / 100
Other albums by Solitude Aeturnus that we have reviewed:
Solitude Aeturnus - Through The Darkest Hour reviewed by Khelek and quoted 90 / 100
Solitude Aeturnus - Alone reviewed by Adam and quoted 90 / 100
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