History Music / Candlemass

Candlemass is a Swedish DoomMetal band formed in 1985 by bassist Leif Edling. One of [[TropeCodifier trope codifier]]s of doom metal, and particularly of a subgenre called "epic doom metal", their first album ''Epicus Doomicus Metallicus'' is not only considered a landmark album but the textbook example of doom metal. They disbanded in 1993, but reformed four years later with a new lineup (Leif Edling being the only consistent member). A past lineup of Candlemass then reformed in 2002, before breaking up again... And reforming [[OverlyLongGag again]] in 2004.

--> "I'm the '''king''', the ruler of '''the grey islands'''..." (Emperor of the Void)

** There is also an obscure EP called ''Sjunger Sigge Fürst'' (1993) which contains recordings of four songs by the Swedish actor, singer and radio presenter [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigge_Fürst Sigge Fürst]]. See OutOfGenreExperience below.

* IAmTheBand: Leif Edling is the sole consistent member of the band, and is in a way the leader. Probably helped by the fact that there's only a handful Candlemass songs that are not written entirely by Edling (both music and lyrics).

* InsufferableGenius: Why Messiah Marcolin will never play with them again. While he may be an incredibly talented and iconic singer, his massive ego, diva-like behavior, and utter inability to work with anyone in a band situation have all ensured that they will never even consider bringing him on board again.

** 1993's ''Sjunger Sigge Fürst'' EP [[LighterAndSofter strays pretty far]] from the default genre, containing [[{{PunkRock}} deliberately punkish]] recordings of songs done in the 40s and 50s by the Swedish actor and singer Sigge Fürst (whose face also adorns the cover). You can tell it was done for fun, even though the band did split up shortly afterwards.

* TitleDrop: The intentionally almost-but-not-quite ones for two of the albums that don't have a TitleTrack, ''From the 13th Sun'' and ''King of the Grey Islands'':
--> "Drifting '''from''' the prison planet, I fell into '''the 13th sun'''..." (Elephant Star)
--> "I'm the '''king''', the ruler of '''the grey islands'''..." (Emperor of the Void)

* LyricalDissonance: "Samaritan" is one of the heaviest songs on ''Nightfall'' and sounds very depressing, but the lyrics are about a man who shelters and feeds a homeless man and, on his own death bed 50 years later, is taken to Heaven by angels in return.

* SurprisinglyGentleSong: "Fortuneteller" from the ''House of Doom'' EP and ''Bridge of the Blind'' from "The Door to Doom" album are acoustic, mellow songs, even if the lyrics aren't exactly lighthearted. "Thirst", a bonus track from ''Dactylis Glomerata'', is instrumental-wise mostly a piano "romance song", though the vocal delivery and the lyrics noticeably contrast with that (the contradiction becoming rather jarring during the chorus). "Galatea" and "Oil" are mostly very mellow but segue into guitar-driven heavy parts.

* BreakUpSong: "Cyclo-F" on ''From the 13th Sun''. The lyrics are ''extremely'' acerbic and one can wonder if Leif was going through an acrimonious divorce in early 1999? The target being a woman is given away by the song title that Leif explained as "menstruation pills" when describing the album on the older version of the band's website.

* EpicRocking: The majority of their output. Across the 13 studio albums they have so far, there are 23 songs longer than 7 minutes each, and songs between 6 and 7 minutes long are too numerous to list. The longest five tracks are "Dustflow" (9:24), "Cyclo-F" (9:17), "Demon’s Gate" (9:12), "The Day and the Night" (8:52) and "Where the Runes Still Speak" (8:41). ''Ancient Dreams'' however takes the cake as the album with 4 songs of "epic" length (over 7 minutes) on it.

* OutOfGenreExperience: "Into the Unfathomed Tower" from ''Tales of Creation'' sounds more like Music/YngwieMalmsteen than the usual doomy fare.

* SurprisinglyGentleSong: "Fortuneteller" from the ''House of Doom'' EP and ''Bridge of the Blind'' from "The Door to Doom" album are acoustic, mellow songs, even if the lyrics aren't exactly lighthearted. "Thirst", the bonus track from ''Dactylis Glomerata'', is instrumental-wise mostly a piano "romance song", though the vocal delivery and the lyrics noticeably contrast with that (the contradiction becoming rather jarring during the chorus). "Galatea" and "Oil" are mostly very mellow but segue into guitar-driven heavy parts.

* {{Instrumentals}}: Almost half of their studio albums (and both [=EPs=] released during Mats Levén's tenure in the band) contain at least one instrumental track each, ranging from small intros / outros / interludes ("Cylinder", "Mythos", "The Opal City" etc.) to full-fledged compositions rivalling bona fide songs for length ("The Goose", "Into The Unfathomed Tower", "The Man Who Fell from the Sky" etc.) The cup goes to ''Nightfall'' where out of ten tracks, '''four''' are instrumentals (including the famous rendition of "Marche Funèbre" by Frédéric Chopin).

%%* EpicRocking: The majority of their output.

** The band also did a cross-cover EP with Music/Entombed, recording their song "To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth" while Entombed did a version of "Black Dwarf".

* GriefSong: "Mourner's Lament" is sung from the viewpoint of a father whose son has died.

* CoverVersion: Vaguely; the last track on ''Ancient Dreams'' is a medley of Music/BlackSabbath songs.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong:
** "Galatea" and "Oil" of the album ''From the 13th Sun'' are almost identical in composition: quiet intros and verses, then the heavy guitar parts kicking in with the singer repeating the catch lines ("My peace of mind" and "I wait for the oil" respectively) until the song fades out. Probably the similarity is why "Galatea" is on the album and "Oil" was relegated to the ranks of bonus tracks not widely circulated until the reissue almost ten years later.
** "Tot" (1999's ''From the 13th Sun'') and "Hammer of Doom" (2009's ''Death Magic Doom'') are also very similar, though both seem to be inspired by [[Music/BlackSabbath Black Sabbath's eponymous song]]. It could be argued that on most Candlemass albums at least since 1998, the second song is a slow and heavy plodder.

* BreakUpSong: "Cyclo-F" on "From the 13th Sun". The lyrics are ''extremely'' acerbic and one can wonder if Leif was going through an acrimonious divorce in early 1999? The target being a woman is given away by the song title that Leif explained as "menstruation pills" when describing the album on the older version of the band's website.

** Galatea and Oil of the album From the 13th Sun are almost identical in composition: quiet intros and verses, then the heavy guitar parts kicking in with the singer repeating the catch lines ("My peace of mind" and "I wait for the oil" respectively) until the song fading out. Probably the similarity is why Galatea is on the album and Oil was relegated to the ranks of bonus tracks not widely circulated until the reissue almost ten years later.
** Tot (1999's From the 13th Sun) and Hammer of Doom (2009's Death Magic Doom) are also very similar, though both seem to be inspired by [[Music/BlackSabbath Black Sabbath's eponymous song]]. It could be argued that on most Candlemass albums at least since 1998, the second song is a slow and heavy plodder.

* IAmTheBand: Leif Edling is the sole consistent member of the band, and is in a way the leader.

* AbsenteeActor: Has been the case with Leif Edling for some time due to health issues. While he continues to be an active writer and also occasionally plays live shows with them, his health issues have kept him from being able to tour or do more than a few live dates per year, which is also what forced him to leave Avatarium (where he is also one of these, as he wrote the bulk of ''Hurricanes and Halos'' despite not being a member at the time).

* AdultFear: "[[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gS-ER5b3Osc Mourner's Lament]]" is about a father grieving the [[OutlivingOnesOffspring death of his son]].