Walk In Darkness

Following on the path that such bands as Evergrey or Therion have carved into stone, but with a more rockish approach to songs, Solitude Within is an upcoming Belgian female-fronted band that plays beautiful symphonic rock music by combining classical music with hard rock and heavy metal elements. The band was formed in the summer of 2014 by the lovely Emmelie Arents (vocals & keyboards) and bass player Quincy Van Overmeire. Guitarists Johan Van Criekingen and Jean-Paul JP Laffargue quickly joined in, with drummer Ashley ‘Ash’ Ysewyn completing the line-up. The beginning of 2016 saw the release of their first single, “Fade Away”, which was greatly appreciated and gave the band more reasons to work on a debut album. Slowly but surely the band began to write and produce new songs and in September 2016 a teaser for “Paralyzed” was released. Finally, in March 2017 their first studio album, “Disappear” got released and now the band is ready to take to the stage.

“I always went my own road and on my own legs where I had a mind to go.” This quote from the 1899 short novel “Heart of Darkness” by Polish writer Joseph Conrad could also be Natalia Mateo’s philosophy of life. The 31 year-old vocalist is a wanderer between the worlds - musically and in real life. Born in Poland, raised in Austria and now living in Germany, she has absorbed the most varied of impressions and cultures into her being. She draws from the Slavic ballad tradition, from American jazz and singer-songwriters ranging from Joni Mitchell to Amy Macdonald, and from contemporary pop and rock music.

Native American flutist Golaná was born Scott Cunningham and raised as an Anglo-American. He was first attracted to music through church hymns and began four years of piano lessons at eight, followed by four years of trumpet in school bands; he began playing guitar at 15. He graduated from San Diego State University with a B.S. in Information Systems Management and got his master's degree in Systems Management from U.S.C. After a corporate career, he started his own computer software consulting business in the mid-'80s. At the same time, having recovered from drug and alcohol dependency, he embarked on a spiritual search that led him to study Native American culture. His interest was given greater impetus when an aunt told him that his great-great-grandmother was a Cherokee, making him one-sixteenth Native American. Turning to the flute, he began playing a Native American style of new age music, also influenced by '70s folk and rock. In a Cherokee ceremony, he was christened Golaná, which means raven. Responding to inquiries about his music, he began issuing it on records, beginning with Path to the Heart and continuing with Walk Between Worlds and 2000's Feather on the Wind.