Dubious will no longer be posting albums for Mandatory Metal Mondays leaving me to take over his duties. I am excited to start sharing some albums that are a bit different from the last few (awesome) stoner metal albums that have been posted to fulfill MMM.
I’ll try not to start off too ambitiously by posting the second album by the seminal yet criminally underrated Swedish band Candlemass. Candlemass were one of the first bands to be officially labeled as “doom metal”, many even claim that they started the genre. As with many metal bands from Sweden Candlemass’s guitar parts place a much higher emphasis on melody than other bands playing a similar style of music at the time (for those not familiar with the genre, doom metal can be best compared to a heavier, slower “Masters of Reality” era Black Sabbath). Although Nightfall does contain many heavy-as-hell riffs that would make Tony Iommi proud (At the Gallows End, Well of Souls) most of the riffs in this album are comprised of non-muted notes that give the album a much more atmospheric, depressing, sound than what was usually heard from the aforementioned guitarist.
I also feel that some credit is due to the band’s lead guitarist at the time, Lars Johansson. Lars may not be remembered in history as the most soulful guitarist, nor will he be remembered as the most technically gifted one, but his leads on this album show a maturity that is not commonly heard in metal. Although he can play fairly fast and makes use of popular shredding techniques such as sweep picking and tapping he utilizes them in such a way that his solos are still melodic and memorable (Well of Souls, Samarithan), which I think is definitely worth mentioning.
Possibly the most recognizable part of Candlemass though is their singer at the time, Messiah Marcolin. Messiah has a soaring, melodramatic voice that puts many 90% of “good” metal singers to shame. Although people unfamiliar with Messiah’s style may initially feel overwhelmed by his singing (even now I become a bit annoyed occasionally by his extremely frequent use of vibrato) I still consider him to be one of the best vocalists I have ever heard and I urge new listeners to give his voice some time to grow on you, it’s definitely worth it in the end.
Overall Candlemass is a band that must be listened to by any person who considers themselves to be a fan of metal, especially anybody who likes the slower, heavier style of bands such as Black Sabbath. Although the band’s first album “Epicus Doomicus Metallicus” (great album title, or greatest album title?) and fourth album “Tales of Creation” are commonly cited as Candlemass’s best efforts along with Nightfall I still find that this is probably the easiest album of theirs to get into and possibly their best. Enjoy.
One day I saw a man, dressed in rags with a staff in his hand, begging for a penny to survive...
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