This past Friday, doom metal legends Candlemass put out their latest album The Door to Doom on Napalm Records. It has been seven years since they dropped their last project, Psalms for the Dead.
The album begins with the new wave of British heavy metal infused “Splendor Demon Majesty.” Complete with galloping rhythms, ominous, demonic lyrics and a triumphant guitar solo, this song delivers a powerful, driving opener while remaining true to the band’s signature epic doom sound.
Next up is “Under the Ocean”, which starts as an psychedelic, acoustic ballad, but it is not long before the song abruptly transitions into crushing riffs and drums.
Vocalist Johan Längqvist delivers some appropriately deep-sea themed lyrics in the form. The song continues like this until after the guitar solo where it returns to the psychedelic sounds that introduce the song in the beginning in a passage of glistening guitar chords covered with warbling flanger effects.
A notable feature on this album is Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi who appears on the third track “Astorolus-The Great Octopus.” Built with more sludgy riffs and slow tempos, the song continues with on the ocean theme, as it tells a story of a large, killer octopus that dwells in the deep.
This, again, is told through the vibratoed, dreary vocals that Längqvist delivers along with some harmonized vocals in the chorus that brand the piece with the trademark epic sound that Candlemass is known for.
Tony Iommi then makes his appearance in a short guitar solo followed by another solo from the band’s lead guitarist Lars Johansson. It is not a large feature and it may be a little underwhelming, but it is definitely cool to see Iommi collaborate with another act of the doom genre, as his playing was what shaped it.
Some nice guitar harmonies that out the song, adding to the evil riffs that play throughout its duration. This song comes with an eerie music video that is worth a watch too. (Warning: The music video is NSFW)
The tracklist is broken up by a short acoustic ballad called “Bridge of the Blind”. The vocals are melodic and bleak over the plucked chord progressions which is then accompanied by an emotional guitar solo.
It’s a nice change of pace before before the listener is pulled back in with the hardhitting and triumphant “Death’s Wheel.” With a driving, yet sludgy rhythm this track proves itself to be a highlight with how dynamic it is. The crushing doom riffs of the chorus are introduced with anticipation with muted guitar strums as they layer under the soaring vocals. The song also includes a melancholic bridge with echoed guitars that lie underneath the melody to create an interesting atmosphere that contrasts from the rest of the song.
In the last leg of the album, the listener will experience another hard-hitting classic doom track with “Black Trinity”.
It stands out with its percussiveness and and drum-centered bridge that builds up to the guitar solo, but other than that, it is not much different from the rest of the album.
“House of Doom” comes next and quickly establishes itself as the most power metal-esque track of the album, with its galloping drum beats and pipe organ accompaniment that makes the chorus almost symphonic.
The lyrics paint a picture of a dark and ominous cathedral which the organ compliments quite well. The band pulls off a heavy and hard-hitting, yet atmospheric and eerie sound here, which makes it another highlight of the album.
Finally, the closer track, “The Omega Circle” comes to punctuate the album. It is the longest track on the album and is introduced with an acoustic guitar and vocal duo before coming in with the heavy.
The main riff is repeated in different registers and is incorporated in different ways throughout the song which really makes it interesting. The acoustic guitar also returns for a passage that breaks up the song and there are two guitar solos making this song full of different parts. In the instrumentation builds up to a big climax to a break of silence before it all fades back in with a new riff that is jammed on until the end.
All in all, The Door to Doom is worth a listen for any doom or traditional heavy metal fan. Candlemass really comes through for their fans with some solid riffs and dynamic songs that really stay true to what makes them so great. The epic and harmonious parts do not knee-cap the powerful and heavy instrumentation which made for a great balance in sound.
They also change things up quite a bit with the acoustic and atmospheric passages, and keeping it dynamic.
Being such a staple in the genre, and having notable features on this album got people anticipated for this album and they did not disappoint.
Luke Hodorek
Features Contributor