bonnek On "Adagio", Solitude Aeturnus reached back to the sound of "Through the darkest hour" and they combined it with the crunchier bite of "Downfall". In my opinion it is their quintessential album, having their best songwriting and presenting all facets of their style.

In comparison to earlier work, the album doesn't have any weak moments. It also offers quite some variations as the band masters the rocking doom style as well as slowly dragging sections, everything pervaded with the epic feel typical for doom metal. It's hard picking favorites, but next to the obvious contenders such as "Days of Prayer", "Lament" and "Believe", I'd also point to the slightly more experimental tracks such as the dreamy "Empty Faith", the devout "Never" and the gloomy droning "Personal God". With "Heaven and Hell" Robert Lowe proves he could stand in for Dio any time. But Candlemass beat them to it.

Whenever thinking of Solitude Aeturnus, we can't avoid mentioning Candlemass, the band's whose imposing melodic doom style is the very reason for Solitude Aeturnus's existence. "Adagio" doesn't offer new chops but is the perfect synthesis of everything that makes them so strong. "Adagio" should be an instant success for fans of Candlemass's 80's albums.