### In Solitude: The world the flesh the devil

#### 13/10/11 || gk

Sweden’s In Solitude released their second album earlier this year and “The World. The Flesh. The Devil” is more 1980s worshiping traditional heavy metal that is derivative but also has a few absolute gems.

The album starts with a trio of killer songs in “The World. The Flesh. The Devil,” “We were Never Here” and the superb “Serpents are Rising.” The songs are catchy, the band sounds tight and focused and the 2 guitarists show off plenty of skill in terms of both songwriting and solos while doing the whole traditional metal sound with great panache. Its an exhilarating start to the album and way better than anything I could have hoped for. Things go off the boil a little with “Poisoned, Blessed and Burned” which reminds me a little of Jag Panzer around “Thane to the Throne” but the vocalist sounds a bit flat and lacking in confidence here which hurts the song. “Demons” is some solid and catchy heavy metal but a bit too long to hold interest all the way through its 6 odd minutes but these 2 slight missteps are made up for with the super catchy and addictive “To Her Darkness” which also has a kickass lead guitar section. “Dance of the Adversary” and “On Burning Paths” finish the album and while both songs have parts that make me sit up and take notice, they’re a bit too long for their own good and fail to hold interest all the way through.

The highlight for me on the album is the guitar playing of Niklas Lindström and Henrik Palm. The duo can riff, write great songs and play some impressive solos. The rhythm section is generally competent but nothing to really make me sit up and take notice. Vocalist Pelle Åhman sounds a bit like King Diamond without the falsetto and particularly in his phrasing but has this tendency to go a bit flat at the end of the verse and chorus. The vocals are a bit hit or miss on the album while being very good on “Serpents are Rising” and quite pedestrian on “Poisoned, Blessed and Burned.”

Overall, I’d say the first three songs on this album are really worth listening to but as the album goes on, it does go steadily downhill in quality and by the time it reaches the 13 minute album closer I simply could not be bothered. Very mixed feelings on this album and I get the feeling that it could have been a lot better.

- Information
- Released: 2011
- Label: Metal Blade
- Website: In Solitude MySpace
- Band
- Pelle Ahman: vocals
- Niklas Lindstrom: guitars
- Henrik Palm: guitars
- Gottfrid Ahman: bass
- Uno Bruniuson: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. The World The Flesh The Devil
- 02. We Were Never Here
- 03. Serpents are Rising
- 04. Poisoned, Blessed and Burned
- 05. Demons
- 06. To her Darkness
- 07. Dance of the Adversary
- 08. On Burning Paths