http://legacy.roadrunnerrecords.com/bla ... mID=174875

It's a bit of a missed opportunity that they didn't get Messiah or Johan back, if you ask me.

Kinda dickish to dump him entirely for the farewell touring. I mean, they're done for a band, seems kinda weird to boot out someone who has done 3 albums with them for someone with no legacy with them at all (Not to mention I've only heard the guy with At Vance and he is way too weak to work for the band IMO)

Eh always hated Messiah and Johan, second best singer was Vikstrom.

Incorrect, but otherwise I pretty much agree, although I can sympathise with not wanting to keep a singer who the rest of the band simply doesn't find up to snuff live anymore, assuming that's the case. I'm wondering if he left by will after talking with the band or if he got kicked out though...

Damn. Did he really suck live, or is that just an excuse? He sounds great on record!

I thought he sounded good on the live tracks on the Lucifer Rising EP, but he did seem be skipping all of the big notes though, giving them to the audience to sing which I always found annoying, could be he just can't do big vocal stuff live at all any more I guess. I suppose it isn't really farewell touring as such, but still, you'd think that since they're now live only they'd try to use vocalists which have a history with the band as more of a lure to the fan base to come see them, any of the older ones would have been less awkward of a transistion. It's probably more that it's happened right now as the album is coming out, instead of 6 months after that makes this so odd.

Yeah, really. I wasn't too keen on him in Candlemass until I heard Hammer Of Doom, and sure it's a bit silly of a song, but damn is he fantastic on there.

According to one of the comments from the article, though, it sounds like Lowe had trouble remembering the lyrics and had to phone it in while reading them off a teleprompter or something. That would explain how he sounds good on record, but not so much live.

Damn. I love Candlemass and Robert Lowe best of all their vocalists. It's kind of strange to be releasing your farewell album and dumping the singer around the same time.

Yeah, this whole thing is super weird. I mean Robert Lowe is a great vocalist, I really don't see how he'd be shitty live. Granted, hes not as good as he was in the first few Solitude Aeturnus albums, but he sounded great in Death Magic Doom, and same for this new one. Too bad their done with albums, but at least their not going to stop touring anytime soon.

I'm so sad to hear this....he's a fantastic singer and I don't think they could've found a better replacement for Messiah. idk I some them live on the 2008 USA tour and I thought Robert gave a fantastic performance. I have heard about this "teleprompter reading" though. No proof on my part, but I've heard from people speculating it as well. Honestly, if this is the case I would assume it's because he lives in Texas and the rest of the band lives in Sweden. Doesn't exactly give you a lot of opportunities for rehearsals to gel as a band. If it's about remembering the lyrics, that leaves me surprised as well. I know he's a Candlemass fan from way back, but even if he wasn't familiar with the band when he joined 'em, couldn't he have just studied the lyrics and practiced along with the recording of the songs? Weird....

Also, as a fan of Therion, At Vance and Krux I have to say Mats Leven kicks major ass! He wouldn't be right as a permanent replacement but for temp you couldn't do much better!

Haven't heard King of the Grey Islands, but he's awful on Death Magic Doom, talk about a boring performance. Alone is no better either. Don't know the new guy, but if Rob Lowe isn't up to par, might as well get rid of him.

Why isnt Messiah still in the band?Whyed he leave?

Well, at least they picked a good singer to replace him. I liked the Krux albums, and I think Mats has enough of a legacy in Sweden to fill those shoes. Honestly guys, does a new vocalist surprise you that much? It's only the sixth one.

Well he WAS not very good live, and it makes sense that, this being their farewell tour, they would want to deliver the songs perfectly. As for Messiah, his live performance also went down the drain, if the last videos I saw are to be believed. Either way, I'm sure the parting of ways was amicable. Lowe has been a smoker for years, surely he's aware of his voice's degradation.

What planet are you from!?

Why did Messiah leave?

Candlemass reformed with Messiah in the first place kind of on accident if I remember. Messiah was keen on doing one album but didn't want to make Candlemass his career again. I suppose when you get that old it's hard to put priorities on an altar higher than your family and lifestyle.

It doesn't bother me too much. I love every Candlemass era to death. I love all the singers equally, and I love the 90's ones that were underrated too. I'm listening to a leak of Psalms right now (don't worry, I will throw my money at them for this) and it feels like they have done a good job of continuing their massive new sound, but there are also motifs from each of the prior albums Candlemass has released. I think It's one of the doomiest records they've done in a long time, and i'm totally going to make it a life goal to see Mats live with Candlemass if they ever come to upstate NY >_<

Judging by the videos on youtube, both official and fan-made, Rob Lowe can't handle most of the older Candlemass and Solitude Aeturnus songs in the live enviroment. The last two albums had some good tunes, but all in all too much groove and sometimes rather annoying vocals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T29M-xOTPI - Sorcerer's Pledge totally butchered by him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XynKUCheu6A - Not much better.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVLl7EIzN0Q - Painful to hear.

interesting, some years ago when they were touring for king of the grey islands Lowe sounded pretty good to me. then again i guess that was YEARS ago, things change i suppose.

I liked his vocals on Sorcerer's Pledge a lot, I don't know why you thought he butchered it. Anyway, Candlemass is Leif, always was.

It's hard to believe that it's been 5/6 years since the Kingdom tour. I was about to say that he sounded great on that tour when he sang the Epicus/Ancient material. But yeah I guess that's already a long time ago, damn. I was at the Starland, NJ show and it was really memorable. There were maybe 50 people in that venue. That venue is meant to house thousands of people, so it was interesting to be able to talk to Rob Lowe from the floor. I was shouting random songs off Thirteenth Sun as a joke and I got a chuckle out of the band.

I quite literally wish they would revisit that era and play more songs from Dactilys and 13...

Lame Lowe was definitely one of my favorite Candlemass vocalists, and brought something different to the band (as every one of their singers has). However, will this finally mean a new Solitude Aeturnus album?

I've never been a huge fan of Lowe's voice, though I have seen them live with him and he was just fine IMO. Then I saw them with Längqvist and there was no comparison (though they didn't perform any of the same material). Too bad he doesn't seem interested in really doing anything other than the occasional special live show. I never managed to see them with Messiah but Längqvist is probably my favorite vocalist based on the studio material.

Only listened to the Sorcerer's Pledge one since my shitty internet hates youtube, but seriously butchered??? Sure it's lower register, and a different style. But it's not like he's failing to hold notes or that he's wavering in between keys or anything technically awful, I can understand someone saying they don't like his recent style in comparision to the higher pitched and more over the top delivery of Messiah, but saying that his delivery is a total butchering is beyond me.

To spoil a song, one does not necessarily have to hit the wrong notes or sing off-key. Each song has an atmosphere and a vocalist has to feel it. In this case Rob does not, or he is reinventing the wheel. This is not a cover band, this is Candlemass.

Definitely an odd move though one I can't be too upset about since this is apparently their "last album" and they probably won't be touring anywhere near Indianapolis anytime soon. But at any rate, the two albums with Robert Lowe were awesome (Death Magic Doom being the superior album in my opinion), I still need to hear the new one, Mats is a pretty good singer, and I'm hoping this will at least lead to a more active Solitude Aeternus...

Not really. This is Candlemass we're talking about here. Although a lot of people think of Messiah as their singer, this is really mostly because of Nightfall, admittedly one of the best things they've ever done. THey've always had a revolving door lineup, especially when it comes to singers. They also always announce that they're breaking up, and then just...don't. Whatever. I'll be happy to see them live someday with whoever the fuck Leif wants to sing.

And Lowe was never that great in Candlemass to me. He used to have a terrific voice but I think he smokes a lot and it has been a little bit ruined, though he still did some pretty cool stuff on the last SA record.

I read an interview, where he told about smoking a lot. http://www.metal-rules.com/zine/content/view/1744/83/ .

Dissapointing news, mostly because I've unfortunately never been able to see Candlemass live with Lowe on vocals. I think his voice brought something a bit darker / grimmer (without losing the melody) to the Candlemass sound which i liked a lot, especially on Death Magic Doom. On the other hand I think Mats Leven is a great singer and I love his stuff on the Krux albums. Hopefully I will be able to catch Candlemass before they get another singer.

I saw Candlemass live with Rob Lowe on vocals a few years ago and his performance was amazing. I don't understand their reasoning

I quite enjoy Lowe's vocal performance in studio, and Ashes to Ashes he sounded good, but if he was unable to sound good live without postproduction I could understand the band's decision. However, I've heard that Lowe has a bunch of personal problems which fuck with his mood, so if he's being a depressed asshole, that might be the real reason. I hope that they're not actually breaking up and that they'll get someone else to sing and continue on until I can see them live at least.

Yeah, he didn't butcher that.

Has anyone actually heard a true butchering? LOL. It gets a *LOT* worse than this.

I don't know all the details, but it seems silly to part ways for just a farewell tour. I mean, Lowe is on the final record, which is about to be released. If I'm going to see an Candlemass show, I want to see the lineup on the record, not Mats Leven (no offense to him).

I have both Krux albums and love them, so I don't doubt Mats will do a good job. Heck, those albums were almost indistinguishable from late 90s Candlemass anyway. It's all academic though as I doubt they'll make it to Australia.

As for Messiah, that was never going to happen. Even if he could cut it performance wise, the guy was by most accounts a self-centred prima donna and poisonous to the band's cohesion.

I heard that after they kicked him out or he left for the second time, Messiah (who apparently lived with his mother) would phone the band members and play songs he wrote on an acoustic.

I remember reading in BW&BK magazine that Messiah was unprofessional and it had become impossible for Leif and the rest of the band to work with him. It's a shame really because he's a tremendous singer and probably my favorite Candlemass frontman.

That's so sad...

I do think Mats is a good fit for Candlemass though. I reckon he could do a great job of Chapter VI stuff, they should get on that!

That's how he got the job the first time, back in 1986, by singing songs from EDM and playing an acoustic guitar through the phone, which his mother was holding. He basically decided for himself that he was going to be their vocalist, whether they agreed to it or not. And how right he was!

This is pretty upsetting, I saw Lowe live back in 2008 with Candlemass and I thought he did a really good job live, in fact it's still one of my favorite concerts of all time. While I think it's better for a band to call it quits before they started putting out bad albums, it's still sad to see Candlemass produce their last studio album.

I agree Incantation.

Hmm, I'm taking the whole "last studio album" thing with a grain or two of salt. As pointed out, this isn't the first time Leif has ended Candlemass in some capacity only to resurrect it because of the continuously strong fanbase they've had over the years. Whether Mats stays on after the tour or someone else is found, Leif will probably start writing new material with whomever it is just to see where it goes and if there's a vested interest from the entire band. He still has Krux going, so it's not like he and Mats won't be coming up with songs of their own.

That's all speculation on my part, but replacing the frontman so shortly before the release of a new (and supposedly final) album tells me that the live performances were indeed in jeopardy of being lacking and they want to usher in a new era with as much necessary damage control as possible. Seems more pragmatic than just toughing it out through the album cycle and risking a decrease in chemistry and therefore potential concertgoers. Lowe's departure was amicable between him and the band anyway, so perhaps the writing was on the wall for a while.

If this does happen to be the end of Candlemass in a studio setting after all, they can hang their collective hats as being one of the most consistently quality bands of the genre. They're aware of that kind of legacy.