Epic Doom Metal

REVIEW:
Candlemass - Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, 1986













Personnel:

Johan Lanquist - Vocals (of Jonah Quizz, who’s legendary 1984 demo deserves a review of it’s own)
Leif Edling - Bass
Mats “Mappe” Björkman - Rhythm Guitars
Klas Bergwall - Lead Guitars
Matz Ekström - Drums

Composed by Leif Edling

Another debut up for review: this time it’s the 1986 debut from Sweden’s Candlemass, Epicus Doomicus Metallicus. The aptly titled full-length almost single-handedly spearheaded the second major wave of Doom (the the first wave being the originators, namely Sabbath and Pentagram) in the 80s alongside Trouble, Saint Vitus, Witchfinder General, Pentagram (still). I’m talking Traditional Doom Metal here. No stoner, droning, funeral, et cetera.

Epic Doom, as Candlemass has been rightly called, is still traditional Doom containing all the elements and aesthetics: slow tempo, powerful riffing, and a sound that’s much more dense than most metal. Atmosphere is the key word when it comes to Doom. Impending dread and, well, DOOM. Without atmosphere, you’ve got nothing. Yes, there are many a traditional band lacking in atmosphere, but Candlemass is most definitely not one of them.

From the opening of EDM, you know what you’re in for. The clean guitar and keys the begin "Solitude" accompanied by Johan Lanquist’s phenomenal vocals build a wall around me each time I listen to it. Brick by brick I’m encased further as Lanquist begins the invocation:

“I'm sitting here alone in darkness
waiting to be free,
Lonely and forlorn I'm crying
I long for my time to come
death means just life
Please let me die in solitude”

As he draws out the last word, the guitar swells to mournful riff as the bricks get only heavier. The sheer power of the verse is suffocating. The riff is simple, deliberate, and utterly effective while the drums pound out a plodding rhythm. The bass isn’t extravagant and lends solid bottom support to the already thunderous rhythm. In keeping with the rest of the song, the solo is simple, but well-written, adding to the atmosphere and epic feel of the music.

Seeing how I just mentioned the lyrics to “Solitude” I should take the time to stress the importance of lyrics and vocals in Doom. Lyrics don’t have to be the same tired rehashes of Geezer Butler classics, but they'd better be pretty pessimistic in their outlook. War, greed, solitude, death, dread, religion (and more) all have a place in Doom, and lyrics are definitely one of the reasons Doom appeals to me so much. Other than the fact that the music rules.

My outlook on life is generally pessimistic, as anyone who reads my personal blog or has even a casual relationship with me is well aware. Human beings have, in thousands of years, destroyed billions of years of natural evolution. I find the large part of people I meet to be locked in a mental prison and most, if not all, people of power to be intellectually bankrupt. I tend to not spend my time dwelling on all of this, and revel in the fact that I am content with my life, for the most part, and haven’t yet been sucked into the bottomless pit of children, bills, money, things things things! I have the things and the people I like and need. But the ever-looming spectre of America’s corporate society and the “civilized” world’s “Man over Nature” attitude is always rearing it’s ugly face.

So as not to get off track...

Doom’s vocals tend to be clean and deep, at times more operatic and even theatrical. The gruffness of a lot of the crossover doom genres is noticeably absent, save for some well-placed rumblings. The lush, powerful vocals of Lanquist are one of EDM’s highlights, and I would take him over “Messiah” Marcollin without hesitation. And that’s not just the utter supremacy of the Jonah Quizz demo influencing my choice either.

Not all of the lyrics on the album are as spelled-out as in “Solitude” as many of the songs have fantasy-inspired lyrics -- in particular, “Crystal Ball.”

“I saw the rainbows end
I am raptured I cannot pretend
I have found Atlantis
The talisman of Seth”

But the foreboding element is still present:

“I have seen it all
dreamt away through
the crystal ball
Tell me more I want to know
please hear my call”

I read the lyrics not so much as a simple narrative of a character looking into a crystal ball or the reality/unreality of crystal balls themselves, but as a warning, so to speak, against mad lust for knowledge of the future/technology. Surely this is my personal philosophy reading into things, but that’s what I do.

Along the same line, lyrics that take a more narrative approach, though that don’t require so much interpretation on my part, can be found in “Under the Oak.” On any given day this track will have it out with “Solitude” for the illustrious title of “Zach’s favorite.” “Under the Oak” has excellent lyrics with clear Christian overtones, but the fact that it’s an oak strikes the truly pagan chord within me.

The song itself has much of the same elements as “Solitude” with the clean guitar and keyboard usage, but it isn’t as slow and crushing. The force “Under the Oak” hits you with isn’t so much like being buried in bricks, it’s more like being pummeled with baseball-sized stones. A much more painful and violent death, as I envision stones thrown by seething hordes of religious hypocrites.

There are surprising moments of speed on the album that I didn’t expect after hearing “Solitude”, but songs like “Black Stone Wielder” and especially “A Sorcerer’s Pledge” move at a much quicker tempo. The latter is positively rocking at points sounding more pure, unadultered heavy metal than Doom. Despite this, it still has all of the elements of Doom found throughout the album, so it doesn’t feel out of place, although I’m not sure how I like it as the closing track. I might prefer “Under the Oak”, but I’m not Candlemass and they arranged it the way they did for a reason, so that’s the way I listen to it.

Epicus Doomicus Metallicus is a prime example of another of Doom’s appeals -- it’s connection with the past. I’m constantly reading/contemplating about my past as a human being, a human of Germanic/Celtic descent, as an American citizen, and so on, and Doom is built around the past -- again, namely Black Sabbath. There are Doom lyrics about the past, but it’s more so the “worship” of the formula created by Black Sabbath and the experimentations within it that I am really drawn to.

The beauty of Doom is in the innovation and uniqueness each band brings to this formula. Candlemass’ “epic-ness”, the distant, muddy psychedelia of Dave Chandler’s guitars on the first Saint Vitus record, the extreme Christianity and crunchy dual guitars of Trouble, beautiful acoustics in Solstice, the list goes on. They are all uniquely individual, yet they are all Doom. Whereas the doom of Candlemass may be being buried by a thousand shattered pews of a crumbling stone cathedral, Saint Vitus is like running away from a knife-wielder but being held back by Chandler’s guitars, or inner/mental death from Solitude Aeturnus. I haven't even scratched the surface of the great Doom bands out there.

Whatever you may envision the impending doom as doesn’t matter, the point is that it’s there, and I feel it with this record. Lanquist’s vocals, the melodic guitar work, clean guitar, fantasy lyrics, the use of keys throughout, and the power the solos and choruses give provide the “epic” feel that goes along with the doom. The solos and choruses in particular, as they have a feeling of strength I don’t get from something like “Into the Void” or “When the Screams Come.” (Given that those are two of my favorite songs of all-time, this is by no means meant as an insult). All of these elements support the core of the record -- which is an excellently composed, monstrously heavy piece of Doom.

-Zach