The tragically underrated Solitude Aeturnus was formed in Texas in 1988 by John Perez, and has been a stalwart in the underground doom metal scene ever since their debut effort, Into the Depths of Sorrow. This is their seconnd release, Beyond the Crimson Horizon, and put simply, it is fantastic. Solitude Aeturnus plays a very intense, purified form of doom rooted in the mold of Black Sabbath and Candlemass, but with some of the progressive elements of decidedly non-doom bands such as Fates Warning.

How does this work? Two reasons: Firstly, the songs are well written and flow well, they aren�t too progressive (no stupid keyboard wankery here), and they are firmly rooted in the best elements of doom. Second, the vocal talents of Robert Lowe. The man is simply incredible; he completely blows away his main obvious influence (Messiah Marcolin of Candlemass) with just mind-blowing range and power. I haven�t heard a singer this operatic and epic since� well, ever! The only man who comes close to this guy in terms of sheer operatic vocal power is the big man Marcolin himself. As you�d expect with such a strong vocal presence, the songs are pretty much all vocal driven. There are great guitar parts, and they even play quite a few good solos as well, but for the most part this is epic, (yet progressive) riff based doom metal.

And good doom metal it is! This is some really good stuff, original and absorbing. This is a no-brainer to most any metal fan�s collection, and is highly recommended for pretty much any progressive or doom fan out there.