The Texas doom metal legends Solitude Aeturnus appear on their first DVD concert Hour of Despair, filmed in Poland on their tour of the fine Alone album in February of 2007. Twelve songs covering much of their discography, this set shows what an underrated metal band Solitude Aeturnus is. Falling somewhere between Black Sabbath, Trouble, and Candlemass, the Texans deliver ominous metal littered with occult & religious overtones, massively heavy guitar dirges, flamboyant solos, and the incredible vocals of Robert Lowe. The sound quality of this DVD is quite superb, with all the players delivering some solid crunch that is mixed perfectly, and Lowe's vocals are simply soaring. The singer looks like the 'heavy metal preacher' in his long black robe, red scarf, and white collar, looming and lurching around the stage spewing out his powerful vocals. It's no surprise after seeing his magnificant performance here that he was chosen to be the new vocalist for Candlemass, as he now holds the distinction of being the singer for two of the worlds greatest doom bands. The band tears through plenty of solid material, including "Scent of Death", "Phantoms", "The 9th Day: Awakening", and "Destiny Falls to Ruin".
There's a good amount of bonus features, including an interview with Lowe and longtime guitarist John Perez, and two short bootleg concert videos. The quality of both of these is pretty terrible, but it shows the band in its infant stage in 1987 (with their first singer) and when they were starting to really make a name for themselves in 1992. For hardcore fans this will be welcome footage to have in your collection, and overall this is one solid and enjoyable DVD of molten doom metal from a vastly underrated band.
Track Listing
1) Scent of Death
2) Haunting the Obscure
3) Mental Pictures
4) Destiny Falls to Ruin
5) Sightless
6) The 9th Day: Awakening
7) Phantoms
8) Is There
9) Pawns of Anger
10) Waiting For the Light
11) Days of Prayer
12) Falling
Bonus Features
Live at On the Rocks, Dallas, TX, 1992 (bootleg)
1) Intro
2) Opaque Divinity
3) Hourglass
4) Where Angels Dare to Tread
5) Seeds of the Desolate
Live at Joe's Garage. Ft. Worth, TX, 1987 (bootleg)
1) Into Battle
2) Where Angels Dare to Tread
Interview with Robert Lowe and John Perez
Photo Gallery, Band History, Discography
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