Candlemass – Sweet Evil Sun

 

 

Candlemass – Sweet Evil Sun
Napalm Records – 2022
Metal, Doom
Rated: ****

The official release was some ten days ago, but the new Sweet Evil Sun by legendary Candlemass has been spinning over here for quite a few weeks now. They are legends, not just because they’ve been around for ages, but because they blew us all away with their debut album Epicus Doomicus Metallicus back in 1986. And sure, we’ve been enjoying many great albums by many different incarnations of Candlemass ever since. But since the return of the original Epicus Doomicus Metallicus vocalist Johan Langquist back in 2019, we can honestly say we’ve been listening to the Candlemass we dig most. The Door To Doom and the ‘left-over’ album The Pendulum immediately seemed to grab me and apparently a lot of you as well more and more. The new album Sweet Evil Sun will surely do the same. We’re here to enjoy the Candlemass of old, that traditional doom metal, with its sluggish rhythm, its laborious riffs, the occasional tempo shift and the rumbling bass. Colorful, shiny solos and that ragged voice of Langquist. Added vocals on When Death Sighs, from Avatarium vocalist Jennie-Ann Smith, gives that track the perfect element for Langquist to bounce off. But most of the tracks go back to the roots, the roots of that epic and grandiose doom metal that Leif Edling once planted. Classic Candlemass delivers another classic.

(Written by JK)

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