Artist: In Solitude
Country: Sweden
Label: High Roller Records / Pure Steel Records
Formats: LP / CD
Year: 2008
This Swedish band with members from death metal band Katalysator (hailed in the Daniel Ekeroth’s book on Swedish Death Metal) and Wolf got themselves quite an impressive start. With their first 7” on Swedish Metal Productions (SMP) they already knew how to impress, and within a short period op time they released this full-length on High Roller Records (who did the vinyl record of the last Manilla Road records for instance).
Musically they still balance somewhere between the early British doom outfits, the NWOBHM sound and the obvious Mercyful Fate/King Diamond trademarks. Yet, the King Diamond-like vocals seem to be a bit tempered and lower on these new tracks. But of course the music is still the amazingly epic heavy metal with enough interesting elements to gain themselves a place in the heavy metal circuit. The occult themes and feel of the music puts them right besides the masters of old, but it also has to be said that they still are a bit behind them basically because of the vocals. They just seem a to be bit less intense then before and lack the sparkles that the better vocalists have. This causes the music to sound flatter than it should do, and that’s a pity as there is so much more in this band. The music itself, for instance, the amazing solo’s and epic riffs makes this album one of the best in the genre and gives this the so necessary authentic sound, without drowning in the so-called ‘vintage’ sound that kills many bands these days.
This is definitely a recommended album for those who are into occult heavy/doom metal and for those who still can’t get enough of Mercyful Fate. Available in three colours; black (700), purple (200) and silver (100).
