SOLITUDE- And justice for All … Demo Tape (selfproduced, USA, 1988)
SOLITUDE were formed in 1987 in Texas by John Perez who was in HELLPREACHER (see the last post) and ROTTING CORPSE prior to this. In 1988, the band released the highly acclaimed “And Justice for All” cassette – a few months later, METALLICA would release the top selling album of the same title.
I remember very well when I got a copy of this demo and how much it had impressed me. It’s obvious to hear that these guys were heavily influenced by early CANDLEMASS, but honestly and as much as I love “Epicus Doomicus Metallicus”: SOLITUDE were a great deal heavier and brought the radical impressionism of what some call “Fairy-tale Metal” to the boiling point. In 1990, the first album was released under the name of SOLITUDE AETERNUS, “Into the Depths of Sorrow”, and this took things one step further still. An incredible record that totally lives from the vocals of the new singer, who has such a clear and highly pitched voice that he actually sounds hybrid, like a post-gender Metal singer. Fantastic! You need to check out the one track from this album which I also included below (check out the official band site and order from them directly).
After this, I lost track of the band. It wasn’t until recently when I learned that the band had continued to release albums. I must admit that I’ve never heard any of these and that I somehow doubt that they could be any better than the demo and the first CD, but I’m sure, some of you will have something to say about these later offerings.
This demo tape was re-released on vinyl a few years ago, in a limited edition of 500. What is strange now is that although the official discography, the track listing on the demo and that of said vinyl version only name 5 songs – but actually, there are 6 songs on this tape (the sixth song is “Mirror of Sorrow”). Anybody knows how this came about? Was this song featured on all cassette versions?
One more thing: The original dub I had of this demo had a monstrous guitar sound that came mainly from a way too high input level. But actually, it sounds very very good that way too!
After posting a wantlist of original demos on this blog in 2007, David G. kindly offered me a bunch of tapes, which I bought off of him. This is one of these tapes; thanks a lot David, you’ve given me a great pleasure with these tapes and I’m sure many of the readers of this blog will feel the same now. So if anybody out there has more original demo tapes of Metal, Hardcore or Punk bands from the 70s and 80s, please get in touch with me (see the contact button in the left column). I will pay top prices.
It came upon one Night.mp3
Transcending Sentinels.mp3
Into Battle.mp3
Sojourner.mp3
Where Angels dare to tread.mp3
Mirror of Sorrow.mp3 [not mentioned on the tracklist]
From “Into the Depths of Sorrow”:
Mirror of Sorrow.mp3 [1990 version with hybrid singer]
PS: The mystery around the mystery track on the demo solved! Read the letter that accompanied the demo.
Thanks again, Dave!
Frank Mossi wrote:
WOW THIS IS AWESOME!!! Great post. Best blog ever!!! Million thanks!!!
Posted on 07-Jan-08 at 7:02 am | Permalink
Pär wrote:
Thansk alot again Erich for a great upload, you are the best thing about the whole Internet these days. Really really good stuff here. Doom at its finest, but better than Epicus? No, I can´t say the same thing.
Posted on 07-Jan-08 at 10:20 am | Permalink
Dave wrote:
Thanks for another great quality rip, I swear your rip sounds better then the tape sounded on my stereo haha… Glad I could contribute to the best blog on the web.
Dave
Posted on 07-Jan-08 at 2:11 pm | Permalink
Admin wrote:
Cheers to you, Dave! Yeah, I took good care of this rip and tried my best in making it sound really good.
Posted on 07-Jan-08 at 2:20 pm | Permalink
Chris wrote:
I sent 10 US dollars in cash from New Zealand to John Perez for this demo and asked him to send change due to the expense of currency exchange. He sent back 4 US dollars.
Lost my tape but due to a friend starting a music sharing message board I got a copy of this on my hard drive. I lost track of the band too.
Their new(at the time of the first album) singer is now in Candlemass.
Posted on 07-Jan-08 at 5:18 pm | Permalink
Sean wrote:
At last…vocals that fit the music! *applauds
Posted on 08-Jan-08 at 3:43 am | Permalink
Admin wrote:
I didn’t know you had such a normative view on music, Sean
Posted on 08-Jan-08 at 6:16 am | Permalink
Jake Thee Pope wrote:
Cool! I’d always wondered about this.
Have you ever heard the Last Chapter album “The Living Waters” with Solitude’s Robert Lowe on vox? Excellent doom not far removed from SA. If not, I was considering it for a future post at my place (even though getting those fuckers to dig on the metal is like pulling teeth– unless it’s early-80’s thrash).
Great post!
Posted on 08-Jan-08 at 1:44 pm | Permalink
Admin wrote:
Thanks Jake – and I sure would enjoy such a post on your excellent blog!
Posted on 08-Jan-08 at 2:13 pm | Permalink
Sean wrote:
A part of me has drastically musically mellowed with age Erich…though another part has become even more “alien” (I don’t think “extreme” is a word I like or push anymore, so I’ll be mysterious here with “alien”) with my sounds.
Then again, I like some old George Michael tracks a lot. :S
Posted on 09-Jan-08 at 3:45 am | Permalink
Picard wrote:
About the vocals: they remind me of Messiah Marcolin. But I must confess that I’m not a connoisseur in Doom Metal!
Nevermind, I couldn’t help myself headbanging like ten years ago when listening to… Candlemass and Cathedral (and, of course, early Black Sabbath).
Posted on 11-Jan-08 at 3:50 pm | Permalink
LAST CHAPTER - The Living Waters « Spending Loud Night wrote:
[...] entry is an answer to Erich’s excellent post of Solitude’s “And Justice For All” demo tape. Hailing from Arlington, Texas, Last Chapter were a doom metal band in the vein of Candlemass and [...]
Posted on 12-Jan-08 at 10:27 am | Permalink
curt king wrote:
thanks for the post.
I had been wanting to hear this long lost tape for years.
I worked on a metal fanzine called DEMOLISH and this was one of my favorite demos out of the hundreds I received.
#1 best was ANNIHILATOR from Jeff Waters!
I will have to dig up some demos. I have boxes of them at my parents house in storage!
thanks again…
Posted on 27-Nov-08 at 9:38 pm | Permalink