Candlemass’ Deadly Doom Magic
The second among the ranks of this year’s goofily-titled releases by legendary doom acts (the other two being Heaven and Hell‘s The Devil You Know and Trouble‘s still-to-come The Dark Riff), Swedish gods Candlemass present their sophomore full-length in their incarnation fronted by Robert Lowe of Solitude Aeturnus, Death Magic Doom. Considering the vivacious sound the band had on 2007’s King of the Grey Islands — despite the fact that Lowe joined the band just shortly before it was recorded and all the material had long since been penned by bassist Leif Edling — Death Magic Doom has a lot to live up to, but with tales of demons and death, they present eight solid tracks in their trademark classic style.
Ideally, I’d like to construct a narrative about how these songs were written differently with Edling considering the power of Lowe‘s voice specifically as regards the vocal melodies, but I just don’t think that’s the way it went down. Rather, I think Lowe was picked as a replacement for Messiah Marcolin precisely because his voice already fit what Candlemass was doing; there was no adjustment necessary. On that level, Death Magic Doom continues their already well-suited coupling. After some time on the road together, Lowe does sound assured and confident of his role in the band, but it’s not like King of the Grey Islands was unsure vocally. It’s just a good match.
Death Magic Doom‘s first couple of tracks play out like Candlemass showing off tempo changes. Like King of the Grey Islands, the album opens with a strong, forceful rocker that’s one of the faster cuts in the repertoire. “If I Ever Die” may not be as catchy as “Emperor of the Void” was, but as a lead in for the slow, Sabbathian, bell-laden “Hammer of Doom” it works quite well in setting up the contrast. Lowe‘s vocals are firm and well-mixed over the riffs of rhythm guitarist Mats “Mappe” Bj?rkman and the solo emitted by lead guitarist Lars “Lasse” Johansson at 4:30 after a velocity increase just after the four-minute mark elevates the track from “kind of cool” to classic Candlemass.
Lyrically, much of the over-the-top operatics of early works like 1988’s Ancient Dreams or the next year’s Tales of Creation is gone, but there’s plenty of horror imagery in “The Bleeding Baroness” and “Demon of the Deep” to fill any gaps. On the former Edling proves once again why he’s considered by many (myself included) to be one of the top three doom riffers of all time, and by including an organ, “Demon” shows some of the epic flair that Candlemass has always had a mysterious penchant for being able to carry across without being corny. Another slower track but about a minute shorter than “Hammer of Doom,” the song wanders some but is constructed so that it never really loses the audience’s attention.
Likewise, the unassuming start of “House of Thousand Voices,” which is Death Magic Doom‘s longest song at 7:50, could just as easily be seen as a filler riff, but Lowe delivers a narrative lyric reminiscent of the great Candlemass stories like “Samarithan” or “Black Stone Wielder” and any dip in quality is redeemed by the gradual build and groove that begins at 3:47. More synth, more gargantuan soloing, and “House of Thousand Voices” turns out to be one of the strongest tracks of the bunch. The band does well to follow it with “Dead Angel,” the shortest and possibly fastest song on the record. A multi-tracked chorus on top of a bed of flowing double-kick from drummer Jan Lindh marks the change in mood from “House of Thousand Voices,” and rather than be anti-climactic, “Dead Angel” acts as a payoff for the build that came before it. Of course, yet another fantastic solo from Johansson doesn’t hurt.
“Clouds of Dementia” stomps at a middling meter, but even middle-of-the-road Candlemass is better than almost anything else, and closer “My Funeral Dreams,” with a quiet intro similar in feel to “Demon of the Deep,” wraps Death Magic Doom in strong and grand fashion with more keys and a sudden concluding stop. Simply put, the expectations on any Candlemass release are nearly if not blatantly ridiculous and this one is no exception, but the record manages to live up to them and sound energetic. One hopes that with Death Magic Doom, Edling and company are hitting a stride in terms of songwriting that will carry them through their next several albums. If this is to be their new formula, I’ll happily take it.
Tags: Candlemass, Gods, Nuclear Blast, Sweden
