SOLITUDE (1983-1996)
Delaware thrash/speed metal band, Solitude, was formed in 1983. All members were in high school when they began, Keith Saulsbury at Concord High and the rest of the band at Mount Pleasant High. The band practiced in the band-rich community of Green Acres, north of Wilmington, Delaware - the same neighborhood where the punk band Marcus Hook practiced.
The initial inspiration for Solitude came after hearing Black Sabbath's Masters of Reality. Eventually, the aggressive but polished sound of Metallica's speed metal inspired them to move in the direction of Metallica and other Bay Area thrash bands like Testament. Solitude played locally around Delaware and became regulars at the Empire Rock Club in Philly, ingrained in the culture of parking lot fanzine and tape traders. In 1987, they released their first demo, Focus Of Terror, which received an enthusiastic response from the scene. After releasing Sickness a year later, the band quickly gained momentum with great reviews in fanzines worldwide, most notably, Kerrang! As if the positive press and bookings with bands such as Death, Dark Angel, and Sacred Reich wasn’t enough to warrant the scene's attention, their song "Typhoid Mary" appeared on Metal Blade Records' prestigious Metal Massacre series.
Over time, the band took additional inspiration from Rush, Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Van Halen. Fall Of Creation brought greater exposure in publications like Metal Maniacs, Thrash 'Em All and Metal Forces. In 1993, they signed with Red Light Records and recorded From Within the following year. Disappointingly, the label went belly up before the album's release and it never saw the light of day. After a crushing blow like that and 10 years as a band, Solitude decided to quietly bow out of the metal world.
Band address: 1417 Drake Rd, Wilmington, DE 19803
Members: Keith Saulsbury, Mike Hostler, Dan Martinez, Rodney Cope
Past members: Darin Mitchell
List of releases: Discogs
- Focus Of Terror cassette(self-released 1986)
- Sickness cassette (self-released 1988)
- Play Upon Words cassette (self-released 1989)
- Fall Of Creation cassette (self-released 1990)
- From Within CD/cassette (Bullet Proof Records / Red Light Records 1994)
- Poisoned Population: The Complete Collection (1987-1994) compilation (Divebomb Records 2009)
Links:
- Solitude shows on Delaware Music History Archive map
- Encyclopaedia Metallum
- Divebomb Records band page
Photos
1985
Philadelphia 1988
from Metal Meltdown #7, Maryland USA 1989
Richmond, VA 1991
Videos
Media mentions
