Robert Lowe is without a doubt one of the most influential vocalists in doom metal, first and foremost with his main band Solitude Aeturnus, with whom he has been one the frontrunners in doom metal for nearly twenty years. His very strong vocal presence let him to the job of succeeding Messiah Marcolin in Candlemass, and all of a sudden he was the vocalist in perhaps the two most important doom metal bands these days.

One should think there really wasn't any time left for him juggling two jobs on two continents; recording and playing live, but he has somehow managed to squeeze another side-project into his busy schedule: Concept of God.

Together with his fellow Solitude Aeturnus sidekicks: Steve Moseley (guitars) and James Martin (bass) along with former Solitude Aeturnus drummer John "Wolf" Covington he has used the long break before the release of 'Alone" (2006) to record this doom metal monster.

Concept of God was founded back in 2000, but due to frequent activities with Solitude Aeturnus the work on this side-project wasn't complete until July 2007. So the album has been recorded and created over a very long period of time, but like it's the case with all high quality (doom) metal there's no expiration date on the label.

Musically they are located somewhere in the grey zone between Solitude Aeturnus, Black Sabbath and Trouble and do naturally have a lot in common with Solitude Aeturnus mostly due to Robert Lowe's vocals. The sound is heavy and muddy in the most positive way, the basic feelings are melancholic and dark; just the way we want our doom metal to sound like. The eight Concept of God songs on 'Visions' are all of the highest level and the Rainbow cover-version is good and a surprising selection, but it fits right in with the rest.

Concept of God is a breath of fresh air in a genre that really hasn't progressed much over the years, a genre where Robert Lowe plays a major part in half of the bands I find interesting - Doomshine, Trouble and While Heaven Wept representing the other half. And if you only plan to buy two doom metal albums this year, and then make sure Robert Lowe is singing on both: this one and the other one being the magnificent Candlemass album because both are great representatives of the genre and are head and shoulder above the competition.