UMUR "Tales of Creation" is the 4th full-length studio album by Swedish doom metal act Candlemass. The album was released through Music for Nations/Metal Blade Records in September 1989, less than a year after the release of "Ancient Dreams" from November 1988. Candlemass were on fire in those years (releasing albums on a string and touring the world) and they obviously wanted to capitalize as much as possible on their success. "Tales of Creation" would be lead vocalist Messiah Marcolin´s last studio album with Candlemass as he left the band during the tour supporting the album after disputes with some of the other bandmembers (he would rejoin in 2002 and leave again in 2006).

The material on "Tales of Creation" continue the epic doom metal style of the preceding releases by Candlemass and in many ways it is very similar in sound and style to especially the two direct predecessors which also feature Marcolin on vocals. They experiment a little more on "Tales of Creation" though and there are even a couple of tracks which can be described as slightly fast-paced (including "Dark Reflections", which is the first regular track after the short intro "The Prophecy"). The neo-classical influenced instrumental "Into the Unfathomed Tower" is also a standout track on the album, and quite different from anything the band had done before. There are several epic, doomy, and heavy tracks like "Under the Oak" and "The Edge of Heaven" on the album too though, so this is still through and through Candlemass as we know them. It becomes Candlemass to try some different ideas and it brings nice variation to the album and helps create a good tracklist flow.

The musicianship is strong and there are some skillful playing on display. The guitar solos have to be mentioned among the highlights of the music, but the instrumental part of the music is generally of a high quality. Marcolin is an exceptionally skilled and distinct sounding vocalist too with his strong voice and semi-operatic delivery. Candlemass were at the time (and still is) a very unique sounding act and while primary composer/bassist Leif Edling have openly admitted his fanboy status, when it comes to Black Sabbath, it´s not the legendary Birmingham band which comes to mind when listening to "Tales of Creation", but more a combination of the epic doom metal of Trouble and the neo-classical influenced melodic heavy metal of King Diamond. If I was Candlemass and read that description of my music, I´d take it and run with it, because coming from my mouth, that´s a major quality stamp. Featuring a raw and powerful sounding production job "Tales of Creation" is a high quality release on all parameters and a 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.

SilentScream213 Tales of Creation is the last of Candlemass’ original golden era of albums, and what a fine way to conclude Messiah’s (first) run with the band. The album is a concept album of sorts, focusing on creation, loneliness, introspection and self-love. It may not have a direct overarching story, but there are call-back moments throughout that connect the dots.

Musically, it sounds rather identical to the previous two albums. Every song is strong, aside from the short segues there are no weak moments. Messiah’s voice is in top form, and Leif’s slow, melodic yet sludgy riffs are on point. You can’t expect anything new here, but you can expect another top notch Candlemass album.

arcane-beautiful Doom metal is a secret love of mine. It's not a genre I am always having my nose in, but whenever I'm in the mood, a good bit of doom never does any harm. Especially, when a Candlemass CD is near.

The band's earlier career was met with some line up confusion. With multi changing vocalists, the band's most longest and frequent vocalist (and in my opinion the best) Messiah Marcolin's presence on this album sadly met a short end, due to this album being his last with the band (before his reunion with them for what I agree to be the bands strongest album).

Music wise the album is pretty much what you expect. Black Sabbath esque doom with a slower and more 80s feel to it, the sound does show a natural progression from their earlier sounds (with some slight surprises along the way too). Lyrically the album seems to be based around a concept. The basic story involves someone who dies and is able to go the afterlife. Creative in style and wording, the story isn't too in your face, but still is there for lyric buffs like myself.

The only real negative bone to pick with this album is the production. While musically the album is pretty good (nothing much you can really do with 80's style distortion), the vocals are probably the biggest problem. Messiah's voice is definitely one of the most unique and powerful in the Doom metal genre, so it is a bit annoying to hear his powerful warbles so low in the mix.

The real shining moment for on this album has to be the opening track “Dark Reflections.” A more upbeat moment for the band, the song has some pretty cooler riffs and a damn fine chorus.

One of the oddest moments on the album appears on the instrumental track “Into The Unfathomed Tower.” A neo classical style instrumental, almost done in the vein of Yngwie Malmsteen or Stratovarius, it is an interesting little interlude on the album, showing off the virtuostic talents on the musicians which isn't very much the focus usually of Candlemass' music.

A track which really shows off the vocals of Messiah has to be “The Edge Of Heaven.” Some pretty cool doomy riffs and some mad warbles gives this song an extra oomph.

One of the most interesting songs on the album is probably “Through The Infinite Halls Of Death.” Starting off with a slow doomy riff, the song soon turns into a faster and more aggressive song with some interesting twists and turns throughout.

The album's closing track “ A Tale Of Creation” is definitely one of the more epic moments on the album. With some poignant lyrics and a rather interesting arrangement, the song is a brilliant ending to this heavenly based concept album.

In conclusion, this album is pretty much classic doom metal at its best, done by one of the pioneering bands of the genre. While some of the production on this album can be rather weak, there are some blistering tunes on this album with the classic line up of the band being present. A definite must have for fans of doom.

8.2/10

Warthur Candlemass' Tales of Creation is a marked improvement over the preceding Ancient Dreams; the riffs have the power and majesty of Nightfall once again, the concept (such as it is) gives the album more focus, and the band also broaden their sound a little with a few experiments with faster-paced metal forms as well as their classic, slow doom metal sound. (In particular, the instrumental Into the Unfathomed Tower sees the band playing faster than ever before.) I don't return to this one quite as often as I do the debut or Nightfall, but it's still a worthy end to Messiah's first stint in the band.

Time Signature The edge of heaven...

Genre: doom metal

I think "Ancient Dreams" is another epitome of epic doom metal and, without doubt, a doom metal masterpiece. What is interesting is that a number of the tracks on the album were actually written back in 1985 and rerecorded for this album ("Under the Oak" was originally released on "Epicus Doomucis Metallicus" in 1986).

"Tales of Creation" is very much a blueprint of melodic, melancholic, catchy yet dark and heavy doom metal. While the album as a whole is great, it's Marcolin's vocals that really tops it. As with "Ancient Tales" there is a lot of variation on the album in terms of melody, heaviness, tempo etc. without it ever threatening the coherence of the album. Outstanding tracks are the uptempo "Dark Reflections", "Tears" with its simple bur very melancholic verse riff, "Into the Unfathomed Tower" which is a power metal instrumental, the über doom anthem "Somewhere in Nowhere" and the title track.

The one thing that annoys me about this album is the use of spoken voice-overs, but that's just a pet peeve of mine. I generally think it disturbs the listening experience of the music itself.

As with the other 80s Candlemass albums, the production is big with a lot of reverb which adds to the epicness (although, the guitar could use more bottom in general).

I'd recommend this to any fan of epic doom metal and I think power metal fans might like it, too.