52 Albums That Shaped My Life - #43

Candlemass – Epicus Doomicus Metallicus

(Black Dragon Records, 1986)

Few album titles lay out quite so clearly what the listener should expect, fewer still can claim to have given a sub-genre its name. The dog latin's lack of subtlety here perfectly establishes what is about to happen: it's going to be epic doom metal, but it's going to take twice as long to say. 42 minutes is not a long album, but with only 6 tracks making up that time Epicus Doomicus Metallicus could be seen as the antidote to another classic metal album from the same year, Slayer's Reign In Blood, in which 10 tracks tear by in less than 29 minutes. The rabid ferocity of that thrash masterpiece finds its counterpoint in the operatic stylings of bassist and songwriter Leif Edling's most complete work. Leif deliberately seeks to slow down and simplify where other bands were speeding up and complicating, finding more influence in Black Sabbath than 1970s punk.  This is an album and a band without which I would not be listening to this kind of music. 

Stoaters

Candlemass is Leif's band, and while he and guitarist Mats Björkman remain today, this debut album was the only outing for Matz Ekström on drums and the under-rated Johan Langquist on vocals.  Leif even goes as far as dedicating opening track, “Solitude”, to himself in the album liner notes. It's not often you'll think of a bassist as a tortured artist, but in the album's first verse we find epic doom metal's leading man distilled in to these words:

I'm sitting here alone in the darkness

Waiting to be free

Lonely and forlorn I am crying

I long for my time to come

Death means just life

Please let me die in solitude

These first lyrics from Candlemass set them out from other doom metal because, while they engage with mythology and fantasy imagery, there is a personal and emotional touch akin to gothic literature and its use of pathetic fallacy. Songs like “Black Stone Wielder” and “A Sorcerer's Pledge” are bursting with portentous weather and buildings that appear to be watching and listening, while “Under The Oak” presents nature as both man's protector and a symbol of danger.

This gothic lyrical setting is perfect for the big, echoey drums, relatively clean guitar sound, and the strong baritone vocals that always stop short of becoming unrestrained or histrionic. In my favourite track, “Demon's Gate” (inspired by Lucio Fulci's strangely moving flawed masterpiece, “The Beyond”), Langquist's clean and bold vocals are the perfect expression of a man weighed heavy with fear, but determined to be strong in the face of ultimate evil. The spoken word and keyboard intro references the strangely gothic atmosphere of “The Beyond”, before slow-paced riffing carries us through the verses to an extended bridge sequence with traded guitar solos and powerful drumming. The double bass pedal throughout this song is like some inner drive pushing the listener towards the demon's gate feeling empowered but also afraid of the terror awaiting them. Conjuring a fear of the darkness with a simultaneous feeling of power derived from that same darkness, “Demon's Gate” is the epitome of epic doom metal.

“Crystal Ball” is more direct. Langquist tears in to the opening riff with the line, “Black heart, your soul is mine”, breaking the riff down in to some low end chugging. It's an immediately heavier sound: the bass punches right through to the listener accompanied by thunderous drumming; the chorus only bringing brief respite. Candlemass even go fast in this song with a double bass driven bridge section that feels like rolling thunder on an open plain, individual lightning strikes of perfectly delivered guitar solo lighting the way. “Black Stone Wielder” slows things down again with the album's best riff, most headbanging worthy moments, and pinpoint solos. A somewhat lacklustre vocal lets the song down, but it's otherwise as strong as anything on this album.

“A Sorcerer's Pledge” brings the album to a close with a three-part epic about a cursed, sunless earth and man's foolishness in believing legends or prophecies. While many believe that Messiah Marcolin is the band's iconic best vocalist, and many more will think of “Bewitched” from second album Nightfall as their most recognisable song, Epicus Doomicus Metallicus is where Candlemass created their own legend and even coined the name for their own sub-genre. While later albums like Death Magic Doom (an attempt to create another sub-genre?) are strong releases, Candlemass are yet to surpass the standards they set on this very first attempt.  If you want epic doom metal, look no further.