Solitude Within - Disappear (2017)

Following on the path that such bands as Evergrey or Therion have carved into stone, but with a more rockish approach to songs, Solitude Within is an upcoming Belgian female-fronted band that plays beautiful symphonic rock music by combining classical music with hard rock and heavy metal elements. The band was formed in the summer of 2014 by the lovely Emmelie Arents (vocals & keyboards) and bass player Quincy Van Overmeire. Guitarists Johan Van Criekingen and Jean-Paul JP Laffargue quickly joined in, with drummer Ashley ‘Ash’ Ysewyn completing the line-up. The beginning of 2016 saw the release of their first single, “Fade Away”, which was greatly appreciated and gave the band more reasons to work on a debut album. Slowly but surely the band began to write and produce new songs and in September 2016 a teaser for “Paralyzed” was released. Finally, in March 2017 their first studio album, “Disappear” got released and now the band is ready to take to the stage.

As far as debut albums go, these can be placed mainly in two categories – experimental and precise. In other words there are bands that know what type of sound they aim for and go for that full force (see Sunburst’s “Fragments of Creation” or Walk in Darkness “In the Shadows of Things”) and then there are bands who like to play around, to experiment and release a very diverse album, sonically speaking. However this is rarely an indication for what is to come as I have heard weak debut albums followed by a really good sophomore album or a strong first album followed by a not-so-strong second album. Also, there are bands that put out quality metal on all their releases. Solitude Within’s debut album is more of an experimental album with a variety of sounds and styles though broadly it can be labeled as symphonic rock with an epic female lead vocal. I feel like Solitude Within is the rockish version of Beyond the Black as the same popish groove characterizes both bands’ music. Also Emmelie’s voice reminds me at times of Jennifer Haben and at times of former Nightwish front lady Anette Olzon, as she has a very strong, melodic, and flexible voice.

TRACKLIST

01. Fade Away
02. Blame
03. Morrigan
04. Fly
05. Burn
06. Disappear
07. In My Mind
08. Eternal Flame
09. Turn Away
10. Paralyzed
11. In the Dark