The Song: Composition, Arrangement, and Recording
"In Solitude" was conceived as a controlled stimulus for psychoacoustic research and as a creative challenge for professional metal producers. The composition balances three interrelated demands:
- Musical authenticity: The song had to sound like a functional, releasable metal track, not a sterile test signal. It draws on established subgenre conventions (heavy, melodic death, black metal) while maintaining coherence and memorability.
- Sectional variety: To examine how different production approaches handle varying musical material, the song includes pronounced contrasts in tempo, dynamics, spectral density, and rhythmic intensity.
- Production flexibility: The multitrack was designed to accommodate diverse production aesthetics, from pristine clarity to dense, saturated extremity. High-quality individual tracks (drums, bass, guitars, vocals, orchestration) allow producers full creative control without being constrained by baked-in processing.
The result is a four-and-a-half-minute composition that shifts between slow, anthemic sections and fast, rhythmically intense passages, enabling producers to demonstrate their signature approaches across multiple musical situations.
About the Composition
"In Solitude" is an original metal composition created specifically for the Heaviness in Metal Music Production (HiMMP) research project. Rather than using existing recordings, the research team composed and produced a new song to ensure controlled comparison across all producer mixes while examining heaviness within the context of a fully realized, functional composition.
The song blends elements from various metal subgenres like heavy metal, melodic death metal, and black metal, while featuring varying speeds of rhythmic subdivision. It is stylistically anchored in "heavy" metal rather than more extreme subgenres, making it broadly applicable across metal production aesthetics while maintaining genre authenticity.
Themes & Lyrics
"In Solitude" draws inspiration from the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly the atmosphere and isolation of the initial UK lockdown in 2020. The lyrics reflect on humanity's relationship with external stimuli such as social media and news media, encouraging retreat from psychologically challenging information to seek inner peace and meaning.
Central Metaphors
The song employs metaphorical language throughout, referencing biblical and historical imagery (Trojan's horse, Jericho's walls, desert rain) to explore themes of isolation, inner conflict, and transformation through solitude.
Emotional Contrasts
The lyrics balance darker expressions of depression and social isolation, particularly in the breakdown section with lines like "The only way out is inside / The only way to be noticed is to hide", against more uplifting moments such as the chorus refrain "I was saved by a plague of angels".
Musical Reflection
These emotional contrasts are mirrored musically through harmonic modulation (Aeolian to Locrian mode), dissonant intervals (tritones), eerie vocal harmonies in perfect intervals, and shifts in spectral frequency range that add sonic weight and atmosphere.
Musical Structure
"In Solitude" follows a compound AABA form, the most common structure in metal music. This macro form consists of verse-chorus groups (supersection A) alternating with a contrasting breakdown section (supersection B), framed by brief intro and outro sections.
The song's structure exemplifies metal's characteristic "cycles of energy" where sectional contrasts modulate intensity throughout. As producer Mike Exeter noted: "There is no heavy without light. It comes down to what comes before it."
Detailed Form Chart
The table below provides a comprehensive breakdown of each section, including timecodes, tempo changes, drum patterns, and key musical characteristics.
| Section | Time | BPM | Feel | Key Characteristics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intro | 0:00 | 100 | Standard | Rhythmically pronounced guitar riff with drum hits and double-kick |
| Verse 1 | 0:04 | 100 | Standard | Low vocals, slow backbeat, band emphasizes downbeats, palm-muted guitars |
| Transition | 0:24 | 100 | Standard | Melodic death metal-inspired guitar, clean & growled vocals, double-kick |
| Pre-Chorus | 0:33 | 200/100 | Double/Standard | Blast beats (200 bpm), black metal-inspired tremolo picking, "In Solitude" refrain |
| Chorus | 0:43 | 200 | Double | Uplifting, gallop/punk rhythm, melodic guitars harmonized in thirds, clean vocals |
| Post-Chorus | 1:02 | 100 | Standard | Deceleration effect, tom-focused drums, lower guitar riff with palm-mutes |
| Verse 2 | 1:16 | 100 | Standard | Identical to Verse 1 with different lyrics |
| Transition | 1:36 | 100 | Standard | Continued vocals from verse, growled vocals in second half |
| Pre-Chorus | 1:45 | 200/100 | Double/Standard | Identical to first pre-chorus |
| Chorus (extended) | 1:55 | 200 | Double | Extended version with more instrumental repetitions |
| Link | 2:24 | 50 | Half | Piano plays chorus melody, calm and dreamy atmosphere |
| Breakdown (no drums) | 2:33 | 60 | Half | Guitar only, tempo shift (100→120 bpm), key change (C minor → C Locrian) |
| Breakdown (with drums) | 2:49 | 60 | Half | Second guitar adds dissonance, brass and strings increase fullness |
| Breakdown (with vocals) | 3:05 | 60 | Half | Eerie vocal harmonization in perfect intervals, wide vocal arrangement |
| Breakdown (no vocals) | 3:21 | 60 | Half | Dissonance emphasized, prominent orchestral elements |
| Breakdown ("choppy") | 3:37 | 60 | Half | Synchronized rhythmic stops and accentuations |
| Pre-Chorus | 3:52 | 200/100 | Double/Standard | Return to familiar material, energy peak approaching |
| Chorus | 4:02 | 200 | Double | Variation of previous choruses |
| Chorus Variation | 4:21 | 200 | Double | Intensified with blast and gallop beats, reduced vocals |
| Outro | 4:40 | 50 | Half | Piano plays chorus riff, slow drum groove |
Note: Bar numbers in the original research were based on double tempos (200 and 240 bpm) and did not change during standard-time or half-time feels, as these reflected the click track tempo used during production.
Compositional Approach
Drum Patterns & Tempo
The song employs three primary drum patterns that incrementally increase intensity: the backbeat (verse sections), gallop beat (punk-inspired, used in choruses), and blast beat (pre-choruses). These patterns shift between standard time (100 bpm), double time (200 bpm), and half time (50-60 bpm) to create dramatic energy contrasts.
Spectral Shifts
Heaviness is modulated through changes in spectral fullness and frequency range. Sections alternate between low spectral centers with pronounced bass presence (verse, post-chorus) and higher, more melodic passages with guitar harmonies and synth pads (chorus, transitions). The breakdown features a modal shift from C Aeolian to C Locrian, adding dissonance and darkness.
Arrangement Dynamics
Instruments enter and exit strategically to alter texture and fullness. The breakdown exemplifies this approach, beginning with a single guitar and gradually adding drums, bass, vocals, and orchestral elements before the synchronized "choppy" breakdown section creates maximum impact through rhythmic accents.
Sectional Contrasts
As producer Andrew Scheps observed, heaviness involves "changing perception. You get used to something, and it's no longer heavy. Some of it has to be that initial rush of adrenaline and the surprise." The song achieves this through constant sectional variation, preventing listener fatigue and maintaining engagement throughout.
Role in Research
By designing a song with such pronounced sectional contrasts, the HiMMP project could examine how different production approaches handle varying musical material. The two study excerpts, one fast and intensive, one slow and anthemic, provided distinct sonic contexts for comparing producer aesthetics and their perceptual effects on heaviness.
The song's complexity also allows producers to demonstrate their creative approaches across different musical situations: maintaining clarity during blast beats, achieving sonic weight in sustained sections, balancing vocal intelligibility against instrumental density, and managing spectral balance across tempo and feel changes.