A little bit of synth effects are thrown in sparingly for good measure. The thing is filled with layered guitar riffs, simple but effective and ever changing, creating a really unique sound for its time. Taking inspiration from both Candlemass and Bathory, Scald aimed to create the most epic album possible while focusing on plodding, doomy tempos. Perfect album, absolutely flawless.Īt one point strictly a cult-Metal gem for the underground, Scald’s lone album has gotten its due recognition in more recent years thanks to the internet. Lyrics are morose, slightly symbolic and poetic. Sparse keys/synths round out the atmosphere perfectly. Ditto to the drumming, simple but perfectly serving the music, generous amount of double bass. Anyway, to talk of the musical merit… some of the best, most melancholic guitar leads ever crafted. Insane how two people crafted an album better than what full bands can do. And then I was in awe, because the whole thing was done by JUST those two people. I later felt stupid, after 17 listens, upon reading that this was composed by the vocalist/drummer and guitarist of Katatonia. I mean hell, the first track was “12 Days of Rain”… you cannot convince me that isn’t a Brave Murder Day reference! Not that it mattered to me. Quite immediately, I began thinking “Damn, these guys really listened to Brave Murder Day and just worshipped the hell out of it.” This was less shoegaze-y and more melodic, but the overall style was uncannily similar. This was the origin of the brand of music that had come to be my absolute favorite. THIS was the BIRTH of Melodic Death Doom. The incredible part is that the album only grew stronger, the main riffs of “Sightless” and “Blue Gallery” in particular absolutely blowing my mind. Well, 30 seconds into track one, my face contorted into a disharmoniously gleeful smile while listening to the aural form of melodic depression, and halfway through track two I prematurely judged this to be a masterpiece, completely meeting all expectations and more. As Death Doom, particularly Melodic Death Doom, is my favorite music genre, I had a lot of expectations for this thing. This is one of those albums I’d had on my radar for years, but only just gotten around to. This is in other words a mandatory listen for fans of the band´s classic sound, and the fans who fled the ranks during the musical experimentation of the 90s, are advised to return to the fold. As "Candlemass" also features a high quality sound production (maybe the best production on any Candlemass album), it is upon conclusion a high quality release through and through. He has a distinct sounding voice and a commanding semi-operatic delivery, and the vocal melodies are intriguing and memorable. Marcolin is THE voice of Candlemass, and his vocals on this album are more varied but just as powerful and unique as always. The rhythm section is heavy and solid, the riffs are massive, and the lead guitar work from Lars Johansson is exquisite. There are a couple of more standard quality tracks on the album, but the quality of the material is predominantly high and fully on par with the quality of the material on the three other Marcolin-fronted Candlemass albums. Other standout tracks are "Seven Silver Keys", "Witches" and "Copernicus". "Black Dwarf" opens the album in an energetic and quite aggressive fashion (for Candlemass), and it´s a high quality opening track. Stylistically the material on "Candlemass" is a continuation of the epic doom metal sound of the previous Marcolin-fronted Candlemass albums, but the band have opted for a darker, less epic, and more riff heavy sound this time around. They however reunited in November 2004 for a second time in the classic 80s lineup and completed writing and recording the material featured on this album. Candlemass subsequently started working on material for a new studio album, but soon disbanded again. The classic lineup reunited in 2002 and played some live shows, which resulted in the release of the live album "Doomed for Live – Reunion 2002" from 2003. "Candlemass" however sees a return of the classic lineup from the late 80s, which also means a return of lead vocalist Messiah Marcolin. Candlemass had been through a decade of lineup changes, a break-up in 1994, the Leif Edling side-project Abstract Algebra, and experimentation with their sound, which resulted in the albums "Chapter VI (1992)", "Dactylis Glomerata (1998)", and "From the 13th Sun (1999)". It´s the successor to "From the 13th Sun" from 1999 and features massive lineup changes since the predecessor and a major change in sound. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Records in May 2005. "Candlemass" is the eponymously titled 8th full-length studio album by Swedish doom metal act Candlemass.
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