𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…
July 29, 1996 — Solitude Aeturnus released their fourth full-length studio album, Downfall via Pavement Music. (Apple Music or Spotify)
The intro to the song Midnight Dreams is an excerpt from the 1941 classical horror movie The Wolfman.
Background:
Following Solitude Aeturnus’ extensive US tour with Mercyful Fate and the bands first tour of Europe with fellow Doom Metallers Revelation, the band went through a long break that would last until April 1996 when they (Solitude) entered Regal Studios in Dallas, Texas to commence the recording of their follow-up to the bands critically acclaimed album, Through the Darkest Hour. Solitude Aeturnus’ fourth studio album, Downfall was released to critical acclaim and despite receiving praise once again for their efforts, the band were extremely dissatisfied with the end product. The songs were top notch but Solitude felt that 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. Lyle Steadham left the band shortly after the recording of Downfall. Primarily because he was tired of the group's sound (he eventually formed the Punk band the Killkreeps). The band continued on, enlisting the services of Teri Pritchard as temporary bassist. It was this line up that toured Europe in 1996 with Swedish Power Metal band Morgana Lafey.
(𝙰𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝙶𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎)
Critical Reception:
As previously noted, Downfall was released to critical praise. Upon the albums re-issue in 2002, AllMusic’s Brian O'Neill criticized the lack of any bonus material, yet praised the album, stating;
“𝙾𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝟷𝟿𝟿𝟼 𝚘𝚗 𝙿𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚁𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜, 𝙳𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝙲𝚛𝚊𝚜𝚑 𝙼𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚌 𝚒𝚗 𝟸𝟶𝟶𝟸. 𝚄𝚗𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚞𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚞𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚜, 𝚜𝚘 𝚍𝚘𝚗‘𝚝 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚋𝚘𝚗𝚞𝚜 𝚌𝚞𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚃𝚎𝚡𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚙𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝙳𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝙼𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚜, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚜𝚘 𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚏𝚊𝚗𝚜. 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚑, 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚢 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚊 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝 𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚏, 𝙴𝚕𝚢𝚜𝚒𝚞𝚖, 𝚊 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎-𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚢, 𝚎𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚌𝚝-𝙻𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚞𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝙰𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙽𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜, 𝚊 𝚐𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙿𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝙼𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚙𝚊𝚎𝚊𝚗, 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠, 𝚐𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚌 𝚜𝚝𝚢𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚙 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚜 𝚊𝚝. 𝙳𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚋𝚞𝚖 𝚂𝚘𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚎 𝙰𝚎𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚞𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚏 𝚙𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚖𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝-𝚊𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍, 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚛 𝚁𝚘𝚊𝚍𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚕.”
Key Tracks:
Phantoms
Only This (And Nothing More)
Midnight Dreams
These Are the Nameless
Chapel of Burning
(𝚂𝚟𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚁𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚎)
Notice: Any reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
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