Epicus Doomicus Metallicus

An ominous, delicately-picked acoustic intro, supplemented by swelling church organs marks the start of Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, one of the more appropriately named albums ever to be committed to tape. Solitude is the song, and in many ways, this is Candlemass's signature song. The intro soon makes way for a truly monstrous riff, and Johan Lanquist's mighty tenor vocals. The slightly cliched nature of the lyrics: 'Earth to earth, ashes to ashes etc', ripped by many a metal band from the Anglican funeral service matter little when delivered with this much emotion and power, and with the spiralling lead lending a strange air of deautiful despondency to proceedings, Solitude turns full circle, concluding with a lone voice backed by an acoustic, imploring some form of higher power to 'Please let [him] die in solitude'.

The rest of the album is built around equally molten riffage, with Demon's Gate and Crystal Ball in particular revealing bounty indeed for those of us who live for the riff. Keyboards and clean guitars are sprinkled throughout the album, but never dominate the guitars and vocals, adding a real sense of tension through dynamics that all classic metal records should exhibit, but sadly few do these days.

Although held up by many as bastions of true doom, and not to say that there aren't doom moments to be found here, Candlemass have always emphasized the metal side of their personality above all else. Black Stone Wielder has it's relatively fast and chuggy moments, and A Sorceror's pledge could even be said to raise a gallop at times. There's also a strong neo-classical feel to much of the guitar work, with the counterpoint melodies of the latter half of Under The Oak providing one of the albums best musical passages.

Epicus is a great album for several reasons. Firstly, the songs are just so strong. Where so many albums strive unsuccessfully to create so much as a handful of memorable moments, Candlemass's debut burns song after song, melody after melody into your soul, from almost the first listen. Secondly, the tones of the guitars, and the overall sound and atmosphere create the indefinable arcane aura of true heavy metal that just can't be faked. Epicus... possesses a classicism that fits it straight into an impeccable metal lineage, starting at Sabbath, and proceeding through Pentagram and Cirith Ungol, to the present day standard bearers like Reverend Bizarre and Solitude Aeturnus. Yes there are some metal cliches at work here, and well-worn melodic patterns, but the overall effect is so spell-binding that you would swear that Candlemass did it first, and everyone else copied them.

Candlemass would go on to record another trio of very good albums, as well as a fine comeback record in 2005, but as a definitive encapsulation of their fundamental sound, Epicus Doomicus Metallicus is very hard to beat.