Articles by "Solitude"


International Black Metal band Nastergal released their debut EP "Solitude". The release was recorded in "Winter Nagte Studios" and in "Electrified Lair Studios". Mixed/mastered by Marco Toba.

Check out the release here: https://nastergal.bandcamp.com/releases.

Nastergal was formed by Riaan Coertze (New Zealand) and Jacques Valentyn (South Africa) and completed with the help of Marco Toba (Argentina) and Evgen Zoidze (Ukraine). The music draws its inspiration from bands such as Dark Funeral and Hecate Enthroned with lyrical content influenced by the works of Friedrich Nietzsche. Even though they are not a live band they are committed to the music they create and strive to deliver the best to their audience. Nastergal has started work on their first full length album and hope to release it early 2022.


Japan's SOLITUDE formed in 1996, since then, the band has gone on to write, record, and release various singles, albums, as well as play shows and tour. Their latest offering "Reach For The Sky" saw a recent release via Test Your Metal Records, and see's the band expanding their horizons, ever so further than their previous releases. Frontman vocalist Akira discusses this album, and the plans that they have in the works between now and the rest of this year.


1. Who are you and what role do you play in the band and why?

I am Akira of singer of Solitude. And I am reader and organizer of this band. I'd like to be faithful to my roots and the one on which I had an influence. Therefore, I formed this band. And I love NWOBHM, Thrash Metal and a like Venom / Motorhead rock’n roll! That’s all.

2. Where does a namesake like SOLITUDE come from and even mean for the band.

That's from a simple reason. Anyway I like a ring of this word. And, of course, I like also Black Sabbath, Candlemass’s song.

3. What has influenced your sound and style?

We’re influenced from various music. Very influenced by NWOBHM, Thrash Metal and Old School Metal! My another band SACRIFICE is also same, the sounds by which this is my ideal, sound like TYGERS OF PANTANG “CRAZY NIGHTS” plus METALLICA “RIDE THE LIGHTNING” plus RIOT “FIRE DOWN UNDER”.

4.What are your songs about? (What specific themes do they cover?)

I don't sing a devil, black magic and murder on this band. I singing about Familiar social problem, quaere, contradiction, hatred and a life etc. And sound is aggressive.

5. Do you write your own songs? (Discuss the songwriting process in detail.)

Me and Shingo (guitar). We collect an idea of a song and are forming that by studio work.

6. How do you describe your music to people?

Old school Heavy metal which passed 80 's. And savor of lyrical guitar and aggressive vocal contrast.

7. What can be said about "Reach For The Sky" that hasn't already been said about it.

Pride of Japanese Heavy Metal. But a lot of people don't know SOLITUDE yet.

8. What comes to mind, when thinking that "Reach For The Sky" is your third full-length album to date.

The album which has returned to a basis and roots thoroughly.

9. Why did you want to make "Blow" a single and video, what is it about this one song, that has such meaning for you guys as a band.

Our sound can't be expressed easily in a word. Like the Virtual Image of 1st album, Brave the Storm of 2nd album and Reach for the Sky of this album tracks are our basic band sound. However, we think, more fast, more louder, more straight song is better than those songs. Therefore we chose this song.

10. What is your favorite anime and manga of all time and why?

I like Hayao Miyazaki's movie and animation. May favorite his animation is Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Because, his animations has the sense to touch Japanese nostalgia, warning to human society and caricature.

12. Has SOLITUDE ever had their music featured in an anime series or movie, would you like that to happen, if so which one of your songs would you pick and which anime or movie would you want it to be and why?

A zombie movie is most desirable for me. Yes, I'm George A. Romero enthusiastic fan. If possible, I want using “Blow”, the situation which escapes from a zombie.

13. How would you say you differ from other bands and artists out of Japan?

I don't express that in words. Because that's that a fan is think by oneself. I think so.

14. Has SOLITUDE ever played in the USA or plan to do so in the future?

Not yet. However, If everyone wishes for that, it would be achieved. By Test Your Metal Records cooperation.

15. What does next year hold for you guys?

We'd release this album at Europe. And I'd enter preparations of making of a new album.

16. Describe SOLITUDE in three words.

Japan, Pride and metal!


Solitude is a hardcore/metal band hailing from Värnamo in Southern Sweden. Since 2006 they have developed their own melodic sound with heavy breakdowns and a great mix of screams and clean vocals. Their first full-length album "Tied to the Anchor" is available now with an all new follow-up EP coming out soon. Drummer William Turner discusses this EP and how the process has been going and when we can expect it to be out.


1. Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.

William: Solitude was originally formed by Dennis Warelius (guitar and clean vocals), William Turner (drums) and Patrik Larsson (screams). At the start of things the band had various names and it was just a couple of friends enjoying playing music together. In 2006 the name Solitude was taken and after that things got more and more serious. We took in Christoffer Apell (guitar) and Carl Williams (bass) and this is the lineup we have today.

2. How would you describe your style? Which bands influenced your music?

William: The most common question but still the hardest to answer. We try to go our own way, not think too much about genres or styles, but I guess that with our catchy choruses and clean vocals we would be placed in the metalcore genre. I think our biggest influences are Bring Me The Horizon, Bullet For My Valentine, Asking Alexandria, in Flames, Memphis May Fire.. mostly people who show great creativity and have the courage to try something new and keep evolving. We all in the band have a very broad taste in music, we listen too everything from Foo Fighters to Bring Me The Horizon, from Saosin to Korn, from Rise Against too Avenged Sevenfold.... I could go on and on.

3. What lyrical theme do you guys use in your music? What message do you want to send?

William: We all see and hear things around us, couples who break up, people who looses a friend or a family member and what I do when I write lyrics is I start to visualize, build up those stories in my head, picture myself in that situation and write about it. Everyone at some point has to endure tragedy or setbacks off some kind and the main message, I think, is that you have to be able to dust yourself of and go on with your life and always strive for more.

4. Tell me about the single you released called "This Is The End - Remake".

William: When we listened to the album we felt that This Is The End had a lot of potential and we could make it better. I think the remake shows where we are heading with our songwriting and sound. We had some new songs lined up but we used "This Is The End" to start looking for a improved sound which we could also use later on in the studio.

5. Where are you in the recording process of the new EP?

William: We have finished all of the recordings and mixing, the only thing left is the mastering, which will hopefully be finished soon.

6. What title did you decide to go with it and is there a meaning behind it?

William: The title for the EP is "A World Inside My Mind" which also is the title for one of the songs on it,  and the meaning is basically what I said about writing lyrics, the things you build up in your head, good and bad, becomes like a world in your mind.

7. Is this EP going to be a concept release?

William: Not necessarily, we do have plans to release a new album pretty soon so in a way it could be considered as a concept release, but the main reason to why we are releasing a EP is because we don´t want to keep people waiting too long for new songs.

8. Who is producing the EP? How has the producer aided the recording process?

William: We actually produced it ourselves, but Henrik Udd at Studio Fredman is always a big help. Since we spend so much time writing and playing the songs we kind off stare ourselves blind sometimes. He always questions choices we made during the songwriting process and make us kind off take a step back and look at it in a different perspective, which is extremely helpful.

9. Where are you recording the EP?

William: As I mentioned in the earlier question we recorded it at Studio Fredman in Gothemburg. They are always professional and at the same time you have lots of fun.

10. Are you using any new instrumentation you've never used in the recording process before?

William: No new instrumentation, but we have spent alot of time improving the sound. People who listen to the Tied To The Anchor album will propably hear the difference instantly, and hopefully they´ll like it as much as we do.

11. Did the band have any definitive goals they were shooting for before the recording process began for this EP?

William: We wanted to find a improved sound which I mentioned earlier, which I think we did. Of course we have goals with the EP, we want to take our music one step further and evolve both as a band and as musicians, and reach out to as many as we can.

12. When did you start writing for this EP? How was the songwriting process different/similar to previous Solitude releases?

William: Dennis, who writes most of the music, started writing new songs almost immediately after the album release, so we had alot of material to go through when we were going to pick out songs for the EP.

13. How is the vibe in the studio?

William: We all love going in to the studio. We don´t have a huge budget so we can´t really be in the studio for several months so we pretty much work around the clock. But it´s always fun. You always know how it´s going to sound in your head, and with the hundreds of hours you've spent writing and preparing, it´s just such a great feeling when it all comes together.

14. When can we expect the new EP to be released?

William: It will be released in October, we haven´t announced the exact date yet but we will soon.

15. What can the fans expect to see from you in the future?

William: I think that this EP shows that we have evolved as musicians, and we will keep evolving .
They can always expect us to give it our best, we take all gigs, small or big seriously, we never take fans for granted and we will keep delivering intense, energetic shows and music.

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