This article is about the band Candlemass, for the Christian feast day,
see Candlemas. Candlemass is an influential Swedish
doom metal band established in Stockholm 1984 by bassist, songwriter and
bandleader Leif Edling and drummer Matz Ekström. After releasing five
full-length albums and touring extensively throughout the 1980s and
early 1990s, Candlemass disbanded in 1994, but reunited three years later.
After breaking up again in 2002, Candlemass reformed in 2004 and have
continued to record and perform since then. Candlemass is also the seventh
best selling artist coming out from Sweden selling as of 2010 more than 15
million albums worldwide. Biography
= Formation and early career = After the breakup of his first band
Nemesis, bassist Leif Edling started his own band under the name Candlemass with
vocalist Johan Längqvist, drummer Matz Ekström, guitarist Mats "Mappe" Bjorkman
and Klas Bergwall. Their first release, Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, immediately
secured their standing, positioning the band within metal circles, setting a
milestone in the doom metal scene. Following the band's debut album
Längqvist was replaced by Messiah Marcolin. By the time the band entered
the studio to record their second effort, Nightfall, in 1987, Bergwall and
Ekström had left the band. Jan Lindh joined the band on drums, and Lars
Johansson joined the band on guitars following the completion of the album.
Candlemass's next two albums were Ancient Dreams and Tales of Creation. In
1990, the band released a live album Live. Shortly afterward, a dispute
between the band members resulted in Messiah Marcolin's departure.
= New singer-era, hiatus and first reunion =
After Marcolin left, Candlemass recruited vocalist Thomas Vikström and
recorded Chapter VI. The band then toured in support of that album. By
1994, Candlemass had called it quits, partly because Chapter VI was
unsuccessful and partially because Edling had formed another project under
the name of Abstrakt Algebra. With Abstrakt Algebra not doing well, Leif
suddenly recruited a new line-up under the name of Candlemass and recorded the
album Dactylis Glomerata, which was a combination of songs for a new Abstrakt
Algebra CD and some new material. A year later the album From the 13th Sun was
released. In 2002, the members of a past
Candlemass line-up reunited. They performed some well-received live shows
and released another live album. Other albums released by the reformed band
were remastered versions of Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, Nightfall, Ancient
Dreams, and Tales of Creation. A DVD called Documents of Doom was released as
well. The band was working on a new album and recorded some new songs while
searching for a record label when differences arose again, resulting in
Candlemass disbanding a second time. In the meantime, Leif Edling started a new
project, Krux, with former Abstrakt Algebra singer Mats Levén and two
members of Entombed. = Second reunion =
In November 2004, the band announced that they had re-united for the second
time. They had recorded a new album, named simply Candlemass, with the same
line-up. It was released in May 2005. They won a Swedish Grammy for it in
2005. In 2006 the band announced that a new
album was in preparation, to be released sometime in 2007. In October 2006, after
much uncertainty regarding Messiah Marcolin's participation, it was settled
that Messiah was out for good. = Robert Lowe era =
Candlemass found a new vocalist, Robert Lowe, who recorded with the band's ninth
album King of the Grey Islands, which was released on June 22, 2007. The album
is self-produced except for four songs produced by Andy Sneap.
On March 31, 2007, Candlemass celebrated a slightly delayed twentieth
anniversary. To commemorate the celebration, original singer Johan
Längqvist appeared live with the band for the first time. The event was
recorded and later released as a DVD. Mats "Mappe" Bjorkman was sentenced to
serve two years behind bars for grand theft in March 2008. He has been
convicted of stealing over 35,000 CDs and DVDs priced at around 3 million Sek.
Candlemass worked on a tenth studio album in 2008. It was intended to be
titled Hammer of Doom, but they renamed it to Death Magic Doom because the name
coincided with a German festival. The album was scheduled to be released on
March 27, 2009, but it was delayed until April 3, 2009.
In 2009, bassist Leif Edling told Soundshock that work on the next
Candlemass album would likely begin before 2011. However, this plan fell
through, and Leif had stated that the album's release date was pushed back to
2012, in order for the band concentrate on the 25th anniversary of their 1986
debut Epicus Doomicus Metallicus. On October 14, 2011, it was announced
that Candlemass were signed to the Austrian label Napalm Records, who
released their final studio album Psalms for the Dead in June 2012. Despite this,
bassist Leif Edling has said that the band will not split up and they want to
stop before they "get too old and start putting out half-lame albums."
= Mats Levén as new singer and future = On June 2, 2012, Candlemass announced
via their website that Robert Lowe had left the band as vocalist, mainly due to
the quality of the live performances and explained to be "a very difficult
decision for the band", and would be replaced for the band's upcoming shows
by longtime friend and collaborator of Candlemass, Mats Levén. Levén had
earlier worked with Leif Edling in Abstrakt Algebra and Krux and sang on
demos from the Candlemass and King of the Grey Islands sessions, found on the
box set Doomology. In addition, keyboardist Per Wiberg would also join
the band on stage for these live shows. In January 2013, Candlemass was voted
the greatest Swedish hard rock/metal band of all time by the writers of
Sweden Rock Magazine, Scandinavia's biggest hard rock magazine as well as
Sweden's biggest music magazine by circulation. They were featured in a
list of the 100 greatest Swedish hard rock/metal bands of all time in a
special jubilee edition, to celebrate the magazine's 100th issue. In
connection with this, it was also revealed that Candlemass, along with
death metal band Entombed, were to perform jointly at a special jubilee
concert in Stockholm arranged by the magazine. In July 2014, Candlemass
headlined the Väsby Rock Festival in their hometown Upplands Väsby.
Despite earlier claims that Psalms for the Dead would be their final album,
bassist Leif Edling has stated that he is open to recording new music with
Candlemass again. To coincide with the 30th anniversary of Epicus Doomicus
Metallicus, Candlemass will release an EP containing new material in early
2016. Personnel
= Members = = Line-ups =
= Timeline = Discography
References External links
Candlemass official webpage Candlemass discography at Discogs
Candlemass discography at MusicBrainz Candlemass at MySpace