As of June 2012, Rob Lowe is no longer a member of Candlemas.
Formed in the spring of 1987, the lineup began as John Perez; quit his former seminal thrash metal band Rotting Corpse in early 1987. Perez, already a veteran of the metal scene, had begun to tire of the limitations of thrash and sought a new sound. Already a long time follower of the early 1980s classic doom groups like Witchfinder General, St. Vitus, Black Hole, Nemesis and the like, Perez decided to adopt a doom metal sound. Perez assembled a group of musicians over the next year namely; Brad Kane - Drums (another member of the early 1980s thrash scene), Kris Gebhardt - vocals (previously with over the top Satanic death metal band Death Tripper), Tom Martinez - guitar and Chris Hardin - bass. After writing songs and rehearsing up until December 1987, the band entered the studio in Jan 1988 to record their legendary 5-song demo entitled “Justice for all.” It should be noted that this title and demo preceded the Metallica album of the same name by some 7 months. Also of interest is that the band's name at this time was Solitude. It would not be until two years later that the band would be forced to change the name to Solitude Aeturnus.
After the release of the demo, various gigs around the local area followed. The response was lukewarm at best since no one around the area knew what to think of the band. 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 lineup that consisted of Perez - guitars, Edgar Rivera - guitars, Robert Lowe - vocals, Lyle Steadham - bass and John "Wolf" Covington on drums. This lineup would last for the next 7 years taking the band all the way to 1996. Of special interest is that Lyle Steadham actually joined the band on drums while Chris Hardin was still on bass. This particular line-up recorded the second official demo of the band containing two classic tracks, "Mirror of Sorrow" and "Opaque Divinity.” Lyle would shortly move over to bass duties as Hardin left the band and Covington joined.
This two-song tape caught the attention of the independent label King Classic. The band entered the prestigious Dallas Sound Lab in January 1990 to record their classic debut album, "Into the Depths of Sorrow.” After a disastrous first mix, the band went back to Sound Logic Studios (where the two demos were done) for a remix. It was a nightmare to try to fix but the band managed to capture a great, albeit raw sound nonetheless. The whole album was recorded for a paltry sum of $3000 and done in 7 days including the remix. Shortly after the album was delivered, the album suffered a delay due to King Classic not having the money to put it out. After some shopping around the album eventually caught the attention of Roadrunner Records and a licensed deal followed by Solitude Aeturnus signing directly to Roadrunner followed, after numerous other delays, the album finally saw the light of day in July 1991 a full year and a half after the album was recorded. No tours followed although by this time the band had already written enough songs for a second album. In March 1992, the band entered Sound Logic recording studios to begin the sessions for the second album, "Beyond the Crimson Horizon"
The budget for "Beyond" was much greater and as a result, the sound was improved, the album was released in July 1992 and eventually a US tour was set up in late November with Paul Di'Anno's Killers. The tour lasted six weeks and was a great success for the band. Shortly after in February 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 would not 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 1994 at Rhythm Studios, this was to be among the band's best work to date, showing a simpler and heavier direction. The production was also at its best and the band was moving their way up the metal ladder.
"Darkest Hour" received critical acclaim all across the globe upon its release in August 1994. After a few months of negotiating, the band went on the road with metal legends Mercyful Fate for an extensive US tour. The tour lasted six weeks and shortly after the band 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 was extremely dissatisfied with the 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 lineup change.
Lyle Steadham left the band shortly after the recording of Downfall. Primary because he was tired of the group's sound and eventually formed the punk band the Kill keeps. The band continued on enlisting the services of Teri Pritchard in as temporary bassist. This line-up toured Europe in April 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 Mosley was added to the band. A long time friend and fan of the band, Steve was the perfect replacement for Lyle. The band then signed on to German label Massacre Records in December 1997 and recorded what was to become their masterpiece, "Adagio.” This time going back to Rhythm Studios in England 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. Adagio finally saw a U.S. release in January 1999 through Olympic Records. Being distributed through PolyGram, the Olympic deal gave the band even greater exposure in the native country.
Beyond
Solitude Aeturnus Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We fall beyond the burning sky
Like clouds that ever sink behind
The crimson horizon's fading line."
To be continued...
The opening lines of Solitude Aeturnus's Beyond describe the passage of time and the inevitable decline of all things, which is a recurring theme in many of the band's songs. The "door of endless time" could be interpreted as either death or the natural progression of time, which can sometimes feel like an unyielding force that cannot be controlled or outrun. The image of falling beyond the "burning sky" and the "crimson horizon's fading line" conjures a sense of loss and abandonment as one is slowly consumed by the finality of death, leaving behind the fading remnants of their existence in the world.
The song goes on to explore the idea of transcendence and moving beyond the limitations of the physical world through spiritual awakening. The lyrics suggest that the path to enlightenment requires a journey into the unknown, where the traveler must confront their fears and overcome their limitations in order to emerge on the other side transformed. The imagery used in this song is often stark and uncompromising, reflecting the harsh realities of life and the emotional struggles that can accompany it. Nonetheless, there is a sense of hope and redemption that underlies the song's message, reminding us that even in the midst of despair and uncertainty, there is always a way forward beyond the horizon.
Line by Line Meaning
Through the door of endless time
We venture beyond the confines of mortal existence and enter into a realm where time has no bounds.
We fall beyond the burning sky
We descend into an unknown dimension beyond the fiery sky, where the laws of physics no longer apply and reality becomes warped.
Like clouds that ever sink behind
Similar to how clouds gradually fade out of sight behind the horizon, we gradually become lost in this new realm, leaving behind the familiarity of our previous world.
The crimson horizon's fading line.
The line where the red sky meets the earth fades away as we enter this new realm, leaving behind all that we once knew and embarking on a journey into the unknown.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: LYLE STEADHAM, JOHN COVINGTON, ROBERT LOWE, JOHN PEREZ, EDGAR RIVERA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Athena Follower
Until a few weeks ago, I had never heard of this band before. Recently, I heard from some different people here on Youtube that this band is the best of the bunch of all things Doom Metal. I glanced through this band's albums here on Youtube. I came across this album here first. I was not disappointed at all. This band is amazing. Hard to believe this masterpiece of an album came out back in 1992.
Moshlem 666
... 🤘 🇺🇸 (USA)
JUAN PABLO GUZMAN HERNANDEZ
I'm embarrassed, I've never heard this album before.
J.T.88
Lowe is the best metal vocalist of all time. Facts cannot be denied, only ignored.
Vsear
he's not even the best candlemass vocalist
Scott Denga
Fuking right he also sang on last chapter album. Have fun trying to find it or anything by solitude aeturnis. Doom on rip trouble Eric Wagner.
FedeMayhemile.
@Maarten Verbaarschot Exactly, i simply added to your comment, not a competition, therefore, no need to compare, facts and emotions are literally opposite things.
Maarten Verbaarschot
@FedeMayhemile. Couldn't agree more with what you are saying. To compare all metal vocalist is impossible. That's exactly why I responded to the remark of "best ever'. It did not specify best doom vocalist, it said best metal vocalist.
My reply was to the use of" best ever" as a remark that is thrown around carelessly and unargumented ina way that it becomes meaningless. Best ever? To whom. In what way? It's purely subjective and therefore holds no other value than stating personal taste. In your answer you said it yourself, a remark like "best ever" needs context. Best doom metal singer. Makes perfect sense. Best metal singer? Impossible to judge. So the remark becomes senseless, if not stupid. After all & most important: it's not a competition.
FedeMayhemile.
@Maarten Verbaarschot There's a few great singers in epic doom because the operatic vocals are a basic part of the idea, but if we are talking about objective facts, he is the singer of a key band, along with Candlemass, directly responsible for the creation of the subgenre back in the 90's, and technique wise he was one the first to actually have a proper one with a full resonant sound and control over his voice, the concepts of best or worst are subjective, in any case you must specify how it is technically superior or inferior, creativity, originality, complexity, lyrical content, etc.. calculable evidence, and there's no need to compare with Dio because we are talking about epic doom metal here, so therefore he indeed is an essential great singer of the subgenre, the "metal" genre is too big to declare a definitive "winner", that's simply impossible.
Epic Doom Lord
Still, among the best in the sub-genre!