CANDLEMASS — Epicus Doomicus Metallicus (review)

CANDLEMASS — Epicus Doomicus Metallicus album cover Album · 1986 · Traditional Doom Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
Time Signature
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Genre: doom metal

I was positively surprised when I heard this album for the first time. The first Candlemass record I heard was "Tales of Creation" which had the exceptional singer Messiah Marcolin doing the lead vocals, so for a long time I was actually sceptical about listening to Candlemass fronted by someone else for fear of disappointment. When I finally got my act together and gave "Epicus Doomicus Metallicus" a listen, I was positively surprised. I really like Johan Längquist's vocals on this album, as there's a quality of desperation to his singing that neither Messiah Marcolin nor Rob Lowe possesses (just check out "Solitude"). I also like how he uses a lower range than his successors, which suits the dark and heavy music very well.

Musically, this album is pretty much the epitome of epic doom metal, drawing on the style invented by Black Sabbath. The riffs are generally heavy and melodic with a hint of melancholy to them. The sound production is big, and this is one album that didn't suffer from the ubiquitous reverb of 80s metal production; in this case, it just helped making the sound big and epic.

I think that all the tracks are good, but especially noteworthy are "Solitude", "Crystal Ball", and "Under the Oak".

This album should certainly appeal to fans of epic doom metal and fans of power metal might also like it for its epic qualities.
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