Solitude Aeturnus

Solitude Aeturnus is an American epic doom metal band from Arlington, Texas. Founded by John Perez in early 1987, the original lineup consisted of Perez on guitar, vocalist Kristoff (Christopher) Gabehart, guitarist Tom Martinez, drummer Brad Kane, and Chris Hardin on bass. The name Solitude was chosen to pay homage to the bands Black Sabbath and Candlemass, both of whom had songs bearing the name "Solitude". Their vocalist, Robert Lowe, was also the singer for the doom metal band Candlemass between 2007 and 2012. Former drummer and bassist Lyle Steadham is now guitarist and lead vocalist for the band Ghoultown. Biography Formed in early 1987, the line up began as John Perez, quit his former seminal thrash metal band Rotting Corpse in early 1987. Perez, already a veteran in 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 Gabehardt - vocals (previously with 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 January 1988 to record their five song demo entitled "And Justice For All...". This title and demo preceded the Metallica album of the same name by some seven months. The band's name at this time was Solitude. It was two years later that the band were 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 1988, changes started to occur within the band, finally settling on a line up that consisted of Perez - guitars, Edgar Rivera - guitars, Robert Lowe - vocals, Lyle Steadham on bass and John "Wolf" Covington on drums. This line up lasted for the next seven years until 1996. Lyle Steadham 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 tracks, "Mirror of Sorrow" and "Opaque Divinity". Lyle then moved over to bass duties as Hardin left the band and Covington joined.