CANDLEMASS - The Door to Doom
Napalm Records
Alright I've got a hell of a lot to say about this release. First and foremost I'm a huge CANDLEMASS fan. Albeit I can be objective in their case. So if you are a fan as well then you might had thought that Mats Leven, who replaced Robert Lowe years ago and did two recent EPs with the band, was going to be their permanent vocalist. He was on last year's House of Doom EP which was not that good but a new album was in the future. Then CANDLEMASS do what they are known for, other than play great epic sounding doom. They switch vocalists, as in Mats Leven is out and in returns Johan Langquist who sang on the band's 1986 debut Epicus Doomicus Metallicus.
OK so not a real surprise there since over the past couple of years the band has invited Johan Langquist back to do shows performing Epicus Doomicus Metallicus live. Sorry I missed those performances. But of course you had to wonder after all of these decades how Langquist would sound now on a new CANDLEMASS record. Well after listening to the opening cut "Splendor Demon Majesty" I was floored on how well he, who is my age, could sing. Listening to the whole release, well I can say CANDLEMASS have brought the excitement back.
It's been quite a while since I felt this way about a CANDLEMASS album. This is their twelfth full-length release and their first in seven freaking years. The last time I was excited by one of their releases was in 2007 with Robert Lowe's debut on King of the Grey Islands. Sure the albums which came after were good but you knew they were going to be that way. Listening to this one ya gotta ask band leader, songwriter and bass player Leif Edling where was he hiding these amazing riffs.
Speaking of riffs the master himself, Tony Iommi, appears on here via the track "Astorolus (The Great Octopus)". He includes a solo which is great but I believe the lead guitar work by Lars Johansson on here exceeds much of what he's done over the past few releases. In the end this is a perfect album. It reminds me a lot of 2012's Psalms Of The Dead but taken to a higher level. This is DOOM done to perfection. Period, end of story for now.
https://napalmrecords.com/deutsch/?SID=aps054r7hsr51nfohfd85c9cr6
https://candlemass.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/candlemass
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