Candlemass
Biography
In the pantheon of heavy metal's most crushing and majestic acts, few bands have wielded the power to make time itself seem to crawl through molten tar quite like Sweden's Candlemass. Born from the ashes of Nemesis in Stockholm during 1984, this quintet didn't just play doom metal – they practically invented the modern blueprint for it, transforming what Black Sabbath had whispered into a full-throated cathedral hymn of despair.
The mastermind behind this sonic cathedral was bassist and primary songwriter Leif Edling, a man whose riffs could make glaciers weep. After Nemesis dissolved, Edling gathered guitarist Mats Björkman, drummer Mats Ekström, and crucially, vocalist Johan Längqvist, whose operatic wails would become the stuff of legend. Their 1986 debut "Epicus Doomicus Metallicus" arrived like a meteorite striking the metal underground, its very title serving as a manifesto for a new breed of heavy music that prioritized atmosphere and crushing weight over speed and aggression.
The album's opening track "Solitude" remains one of metal's most hauntingly beautiful compositions, a seven-minute journey through emotional devastation that proved heavy music could be both punishing and deeply moving. Längqvist's soaring vocals, reminiscent of a medieval bard lamenting the fall of kingdoms, established the template for epic doom metal that countless bands would follow. The record was recorded on a shoestring budget, but its impact was immeasurable, essentially creating the epic doom metal subgenre overnight.
However, Längqvist's departure after just one album could have spelled doom for the fledgling band. Instead, it led to the arrival of Messiah Marcolin, a vocalist whose theatrical presence and three-octave range would define Candlemass's golden era. Marcolin, with his monk-like robes and dramatic stage presence, transformed the band into a visual spectacle that matched their sonic grandeur. His debut with the band, 1987's "Nightfall," stands as their commercial and artistic peak, spawning the anthemic "Bewitched" – a song that brought doom metal to MTV and proved that crushing heaviness could coexist with memorable hooks.
The late eighties and early nineties saw Candlemass reach their creative zenith with albums like "Ancient Dreams" (1988) and "Tales of Creation" (1989), each one a masterclass in dynamics, atmosphere, and sheer emotional weight. Songs like "Mirror Mirror" and "At the Gallows End" became doom metal standards, their funeral-march tempos and apocalyptic lyrics influencing everyone from Cathedral to Electric Wizard to modern titans like Pallbearer.
But success in the doom world is often fleeting, and internal tensions led to Marcolin's departure in 1991. The band soldiered on with various vocalists, including a brief reunion with Längqvist, but never quite recaptured the magic of their late-eighties peak. They officially disbanded in 1994, leaving behind a legacy that seemed complete but tragically brief.
The new millennium brought resurrection, as it often does in metal. Candlemass reformed in 2002, and remarkably, Marcolin returned to the fold in 2004 for the album "Candlemass," proving that some musical partnerships transcend mere collaboration to become something mystical. Though Marcolin would depart again in 2006, the band continued with Robert Lowe of Solitude Aeturnus, maintaining their commitment to crushing, beautiful heaviness.
Their influence on metal cannot be overstated. Bands across the globe cite Candlemass as the primary influence for the epic doom movement, and their impact extends beyond the underground – everyone from Metallica to Opeth has acknowledged their debt to Edling's compositions. The band's ability to make five-minute songs feel like epic journeys and their proof that metal could be both heavy and genuinely emotional opened doors that remain open today.
Now in their fourth decade, Candlemass continues to tour and record, with recent albums like "The Door to Doom" (2019) proving that their creative well remains deep. Edling's bass continues to rumble like tectonic plates shifting, and current vocalist Mats Levén carries the torch with appropriate reverence for the band's legacy. In a genre often obsessed with extremity for its own sake, Candlemass remains a reminder that sometimes the most powerful music moves at the speed of
