In Solitude is one of those bands from the 00s that managed to tap into the musical DNA of Mercyful Fate. To understand why they deserve this title, it is important to carry a cross-comparison between their beginnings on their debut and their shift with 2011’s The World, The Flesh and the Devil.
Candlemass’s later two 80’s records are an example of how expectation can distort and alter the perception of certain works. They are both fine albums, but because this was also the band who happened to write two of the best albums of all time right before (forget genre for a second), they both tend to be dismissed because they happened to be ever-so-slightly flawed by comparison. Which is a perverse reinforce of the band’s greatness at their peak, in a sense – a friend of mine recently put it that even the two “weaker” Candlemass albums would still make them one of the best doom metal bands of all time.