Epicus Doomicus Metallicus - Candlemass

Epicus Doomicus Metallicus was Candlemass's debut album and was released in 1986 on the Black Dragon Records label, it was to set a precedent for their future work and bring a unique sound to music as they delve in to the dark realms of doom metal. Whilst moving and dark, it's not necessarily depressing at all - in fact I'd like to say that it has a "graveyard fairground" sound to it, the tracks are quite long and progressive and aside from heavy damning bass riffs written by Leif Eiding, the occasional guitar solo purrs in like a cat preying upon a mouse. This is heavy stuff but Johan Lanqvist's voice is fairly clean and whether he's singing in his ...  Read the complete review

Candlemass were one of the first and arguably the best doom metal bands, building on the work of bands like Black Sabbath in the seventies, but introducing a new mournful, foreboding and above all a monumentally epic dimension to create these albums of drawn-out, spellbinding elegies. There's some great guitar solos too. The pompously but perhaps accurately titled 'Epicus Doomicus Metallicus' sets the tone for everything Candlemass would do throughout the rest of their career, apart from on the albums where they purposefully strove for something different, only to realise they carved their niche long ago. While this makes it a little less spectacular when ...  Read the complete review