Of course, Black Sabbath will always be synonymous with doom metal (and quite right, too), yet if there was one band who solidified the genre and brought it to a whole new generation, it’s surely Sweden’s Candlemass. Formed as Nemesis in Stockholm in 1982, a name change and a classic debut album (‘86s Epicus Doomicus Metallicus) forever etched their name into the hallowed halls of heavy metal. Yet, this is one band who refuse to rest on past glories and have left a tantalising trail of vinyl in their wake as they forged forever forwards. To celebrate their fortieth anniversary, the band take a rare moment to look back and unleash an EP in the shape of Black Star which finds them simultaneously excavating some roots whilst keeping their gaze firmly on the future.
Maybe it’s those long, Scandinavian nights, but Candlemass have a direct route to the darkest recesses of the listener’s psyche, and that’s exactly where the opening (and title) track takes us. With Johan Länquist’s vocals reverberating on some deep, primordial level and with a timbre that sparkles like light from a dying planet, a sombre scene is set and means that when the band kick in at the 30-second mark, it is with the force of two planets colliding. Bringing all their experience to bear, the band make good use of musical dynamics and pit loud with quiet to great effect, with each acting as a foil to highlight and enhance the other. Like a modern day Johan Jakob Borelius, Leif Edling (songwriter and bassist) has composed a set of lyrics that cut to the very heart of human existence and speak of existential angst. It’s heady stuff and when combined with the heavy doom sound creates a listen that’s not for the faint hearted (but you kind of knew that on the way in). An instrumental follows in the shape of ‘Corridors Of Chaos’ and in terms of heavy metal, things don’t get more weighty than this as it drags the listener down to delirious depths like an anchor attached to a dying man.
It’s two covers that close this EP; firstly ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’ which the band don’t tinker with too much; it’s more homage than cover version with the band bringing to the fore the forbidding and disconcerting nature of the original. Finally, Pentagram’s ‘Forever My Queen’ smokes like fresh kill and shows the more dynamic side of Candlemass. My only complaint with this EP is that it’s just too darn short, yet it certainly leaves the listener hungry for more and suggests that there’s much more to come from the Candlemass story.
- Black Star is released via Napalm Records on 9th May 2025.
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Track List:
- Black Star
- Corridors Of Chaos
- Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
- Forever My Queen
