One of this American
doom metal band's better releases,
Through the Darkest Hour has its share of decent riffing and impressive dynamics. Like each
Solitude Aeturnus release, these better moments are overwhelmed by vocalist
Robert Lowe.
Lowe demonstrates good control and a fair amount of melodic invention, but too often his forced articulation of rather pompous lyrics gets in the way of the music. Complicating matters are more than a few uneven mixes, a production problem common to many of this group's recordings. The vocals are mixed much too loudly and, except for the moody
"Shattered My Spirit," Lowe's voice seems to occupy a space completely separate from the instruments. Even with all this going against it,
Solitude Aeturnus pulls things together and does a respectable job on tracks like the opener,
"Falling," and
"Pain." The guitar riffs featured on these and other songs make this the finest release from the group, but
Through the Darkest Hour still doesn't qualify as a worthwhile
doom metal effort. ~ Vincent Jeffries
