More than 20 years after they were originally recorded and for the first time packaged as a domestic release, Goomba Music is proud to offer, In Times of Solitude the pre-amble album from one of doom metal’s pioneering bands, Solitude Aeturnus.
1. It Came Upon One Night (Demo Version 1988)
2. Transcending Sentinels (Demo Version 1988)
3. Into Battle (Demo Version 1988)
4. Sojourner (Demo Version 1988)
5. Where Angels Dare To Treat (Demo Version 1988)
6. Remembrance Of A Live (Rehearsal Session 1987)
7. And Justice For All (Live At Joe’s Garage 1988)
8. Sojourner (Rehearsal Session 1988)
9. Mirror Of Sorrow (Demo Tape 1988)
| Formed in the spring of 1987, Solitude Aeturnus are still producing some the finest heavy metal music on the planet! Out of a sheer dark desire to spread the power of heavy head swirling and pounding hell metal the band pushes onward. The line up began as darkened soul, John Perez, quit his former seminal thrash metal band Rotting Corpse in early ’87. Assembling a group and recording a demo in early 1988, Solitude began planting the seeds within the tape trading and underground metal network.
In late ’88 changes started to occur within the band and without going into too many details the members of the band all changed finally settling on a line-up that consisted of Perez, guitars, Edgar Rivera, guitars, Robert Lowe, vocals, Lyle Steadham, bass and John “Wolf” Covington on drums. A legal dispute forced the band to change the name to Solitude Aeturnus during the spring of 1989. The band entered the prestigious Dallas Sound Lab in January of 1990 to record their classic debut album, Into the Depths of Sorrow. After some shopping around, the album eventually caught the attention of Roadrunner Records and an offer followed by Solitude Aeturnus signing to Roadrunner. After numerous other delays the album finally saw the light of day in July of 1991 a full year and half after the album was recorded. No tours followed although by this time SA had already written enough songs for a second album. In March of 1992 the band entered Sound Logic recording studios to begin the sessions for the second album, Beyond the Crimson Horizon The album was released in July of 1992 and eventually a US tour was set up in late November with Paul Dianno’s Killers. The tour lasted six weeks and was a great success for the band. Shortly after in February of 1993 the band was dropped from Roadrunner. This came as a sigh of relief for the band as the proper support from Roadrunner never came their way. It wouldn’t be until December that the band would finally sign a new recording contract with up and coming label, Pavement Records. The band decided to get away from their familiar surroundings and took off for England to record their third album, Through the Darkest Hour. Recorded in late March of 1994 at Rhythm Studios, this was to be the bands best work to date showcasing a more riff oriented and heavier direction. The production was also at its best ever and the band was making great strides in their live performance. Through The Darkest Hour received critical acclaim all across the globe upon its release in August of 1994. The band went on the road with metal legends Mercyful Fate for an extensive US tour and shortly after embarked on their first tour of Europe with fellow doom band Revelation. After this tour the band went through a long break that would last until the April of 1996 when recording for the next album commenced. During this time Perez started his own Brainticket Records label as well as recording a solo album under the name of The Liquid Sound Company. The next album, Downfall was recorded in Dallas TX and despite receiving praise once again for their efforts, the band were extremely dissatisfied with the end product. The songs were top notch but the production quality of the album was poor. After years of hard knocks and never ending struggles the band underwent their first (and only) major line-up change with bassist Lyle Steadham leaving to pursue other musical interests. The band continued on enlisting the services of Teri Pritchard (Last Chapter) in as temporary bassist. It was this line up that toured Europe in April of 1996 with Swedish power metal band Morgana Lafey. Another unintentional break followed and a split from Pavement Records eventually occurred. During this time new bass player, Steve Moseley was added to the band. Solitude Aeturnus then signed on to German label Massacre Records in December, 1997 and recorded what was to become their strongest recording to date in Adagio. The band went back to Rhythm Studios in England and the album was recorded in March 1998 and released in June of the same year. The band toured Europe in September, 1998 with Savior Machine in support of the record. After several festival shows during the years after Adagio, the band underwent a temporary hiatus with members taking time off to focus on other things. Perez focused his efforts on the Brainticket Records label and also recorded another psychedelic album with his Liquid Sound Company (Inside the Acid Temple) in 2003. Moseley, Lowe and Covington formed another group during this time called Concept of God. During this hiatus guitarist Edgar Rivera and drummer John Covington both left the band on best of terms. Longtime Solitude fan and veteran metal head Steve Nichols joined the band on drums in 2005 along with master bassist James Martin. With this new line up the band completed a mini tour of Greece and Germany during spring of 2006 and spent countless hours crafting the songs for their newest release. Entitled Alone the bands 6th studio album has been released on Massacre Records in November 2006. With the release of In Times of Solitude the US doom metal legends close an essential gap in their discography. |
