Candlemass - Nightfall (1987)

Ah, the beauty and majesty of Candlemass. I know this band well, having discovered them way back when I was in my early Metal Years. This was, if I recall, my first of their albums, and I originally purchased it on cassette tape. I own the CD now, of course.

Messiah Marcolin, vocalist at this time, is a Metal God. He has the voice of an angel - albeit a somewhat large one and slightly sweaty one. That is to say - it is a lovely, beautiful voice but so much power - the sort of power that could devastate buildings or rise mountains from the sea.

He is magnificant.

This is the first of the Trinity of Divine Candlemass albums.  As I own them all, they shall all be listened to, dissected, admired and enjoyed. I am undecided as to which is my favourite, but as this is the first, it defnitely rates highly.

Okay, so you get the idea, I love these albums. I love Messiah. They are beauty and power and... let's just listen to it already, shall we? Actually, I vaguely remember analysing some of these songs for a  school project/poetry assignment. We had an awesome English teacher.

And don't worry, I'll try and find you some videos too - in case you are one of the unintiated.

Firstly - this album jacket is beautiful, taken from "The Voyage of Life: Old Age" by Thomas Cole. It depicts an aged man, in a boat afloat on a lonely ocean, dark clouds looming overhead, a ray of light splitting them asunder. Before him hovers an Angel, a vision of white and glory. In the very centre, small and unassuming but very easy to read, is the band name and the title. The sleeve itself is a simple affair - a one fold cover with all the lyrics printed in small but legible font, set against the twilight clouds.

As I noted previously, most metal albums from this era begin with a short intro piece with haunting music or - in this case - crashing lightning or perhaps a cracking "Gothic Stone".

Whatever it is, it quickly fades into the looming majesty of "The Well of Souls". Messiah's soaring and powerful voice rises above the doom-laden chords, filled with his passion and dedication to protecting the world from:

"...hatred and scorn..."

Perhaps because Messiah's customary attire is a robe, crucifix and he pretty much looks like an epic avenging monk, it is very, very easy to envisage him as the "old man" whose life is dedicated to protecting the world from the looming threat of Satan.

Lyrics indicate that he is unsuccessful in this endeavour, yet like in the earlier track "The Sorcerer's Pledge", the battle is a non-climactic one. In this case, daylight destroys the darkness. Let us just be thankful that they write lyrics, not novels.

"Codex Gigas" is another pounding instrumental, with ominous, slow beats and brooding atmosphere. I am imagining someone carrying a heavy load, ponderously through the dark.

Ah, the opening chords of "At the Gallows End" bring a shiver to my spine and a tear to my eye. Partly it is nostalgia - but also it is a beauty lead-in - slow and haunting, with Messiah's wonderful voice dripping with raw emotion and loss. I am standing with him, waiting for my death. What a swan song.

"Only the vultures will come to see me hang..."

Pounding bass, dramatic and chilling. 

And oh, now we have the most beautiful "Samarithan". Every song a memory. Slower rhythms, slightly lower vocal register; sorrow and compassion weigh down the words. A homeless man, offered sanctuary - a simple act of kindness that brings with it much reward. This song is a thing of beauty.

I am never quite sure if Candlemass are technically a Christian band - their lyrics are filled with Christian imagery, but they seem to regard it with more honour and respect than the bands that preach about hellfire and damnation. It feels biblical in the oldest sense of the word, and noble.

The ponderous and dramatic "Marche Funeral"  bridges us between this song and "Dark are the Veils of Death". This is a faster paced, and somewhat more dramatic slightly hectic song, almost desperate at times. Messiah's vocals are no less than stupendous.

"Enter the great adventure, just wait and see..."

I think Candlemass helped me to "survive" my teen years. Whilst they are, technically, a doom band, their lyrics are not filled with as much death and despair as other bands of that ilk* - they have hope - of the afterlife, of redemption, of the triumph of good against evil.

The devastatingly beautiful "Mourner's Lament" follows. A song laden so much with mourning, loss and anguish. A father mourns his deceased son. A song that sends shivers down my spine and a thrill in my heart. The power... the raw emotion... The whispered "Rest in peace" brings a tear to my eye.

Why, you could almost say that I'm "Bewitched" - which is coincidentally, the next (and almost final) track on this album. It is a song with decidedly pagan elements, putting it at odds of every other track on this album:

"Bewitched by delight, you'll reach the night dancing and singing to my fiddle. So take my hand, and understand, that no-one will see you again." 

It is a splendid song, and somewhat more upbeat than the rest of the album. Of course, the video is something of a letdown, thanks to be exceedingly cheap and cheesy and rather silly. I suspect that the band are not quite as serious as they pretend to be. Still, noone is immune to a little fun.

Candlemass are an amazing band, and this is an awesome album. Along with the other two Messiah-vocaled Candlemass albums, they are some of the finest doom and gloom albums ever made. Even the nostalgia aspect notwithstanding, it would be a crime against metal to give this album anything less than 10/10.


* Stay tuned for Confessor (music to kill yourself to). But they'll probably have to wait until I've looped through all my Candlemass. Ironically, Confessor helped me in those angst-ridden years too.

Xandria - Ravenheart (2004)

Xandria fall into the category of folk-metal-with-female-vocals and as such are an amazing act. Nowadays, they sound a little more Nightwish, but at this stage in their career, they bore more in common with Within Temptation (of the same era, not their more modern stuff) and Leaves' Eyes.

This is one of those "enhanced CDs" which means when you insert it you can choose it to begin a program. This was all well and good, except once I had it on, I could not turn it off without going into my Program Manager and forcibly closing it down. Bit irritating. It did give me the opportunity to watch the video for Ravenheart however. It's a rather moody clip - with some colours exaggerated and saturdated to enhance the otherworld quality. Gosh, she really is a redhead! But I feel bad for the ravens - why are they branded messengers of evil? There are "little red riding hood" vibes in this too. Looks like it was done on a relatively low budget.

The packaging likewise seems a little cheap and self indulgent - the vocalist is rather pretty, but I'm not sure if her startlingly green eyes and the red feathers brushing her equally red hair were what drew me to this CD, although I suspect it did help - since I was going through a power metal/folk with female vocals phase (and I still am). I may also have had them recommended to me. She has gorgeous eyelashes too.

Inside, the lyric booklet uses dark reds and ochre yellows to create a somewhat melancholic mood.

The CD opens with the crashing symphony of "Ravenheart", which fades gently into hushed folk-inspired vocals. Lisa Schapaus has a sweet tinged, but powerful voice.Crashing chords increase the energy and it is almost as though she is flinging flocks of black birds into the sky, with them swirling and flapping through the storm-filled clouds above.

Haunting vibes and rhythms usher us into "The Lioness", until the symphonic sound crashes down, smothering them with their intensity, then fades again as the vocals take hold. Fragile vocals, ephemeral. Such a sweet voice, but predatory words:

"... feel her coming near, she smells the blood, her prey is near..."

Lisa is something of a lioness herself, her voice is like a gentle touch, a sweet caress, but one cannot help but feel there is power and danger behind it.

"Back to the River" starts with some awesome and haunting sitar, before moving into a more modern sound. It is a gentler song, lacking the symphonic power of its predecessors on this album, and for some reason is intermingled with sampled speech.

With flute and piano, "Eversleeping" matches its name with its haunting serenity.

"Fire of Universe" has a rather more modern vibes going on - more technical sounding.

"Some Like It Cold" is another dreamier number, the vocals dominating the song and evoking feelings of blue-tinged sadness and soliture.

"Answer" is another perfectly pleasant blend of female vocals and light background music, with the occasional hint of more modern sound.

The haunting, ghostly sounds that begin "My Scarlet Name" bring with them a touch of the winter chill, and the guitar speaks of loneliness and solitude.

"Snow White" begins with some vaguely familiar chords and a bit more promise. It does follow a similar structure to the rest of this album - bold start, music fading to highlight the vocals, then coming in with them again in a more subdued manner.

"Black Flame" brings with it a bit more energy, but is pretty light by metal standards.

More atmosphere and mood reigns in "Too Close to Breathe". Here the gentle, soft, sweet vocals intermingle with the occasional pounding bass, before the music is once again tamed.

The final track "Keep my Secret Well" is similarly polished and clean, with a somewhat modern edge to it and some fairly banal lyrics:

"...Keep my secret well like my eyes keep their tears...

Some sweet whispered moments and a fairly gentle, mild-natured song with some nicely soothing piano to conclude both the track and the album.

Whilst a perfectly pleasant album, with powerful, symphonic vocals and the occasional soaring guitar, there seems to be something lacking in Xandria. Almost as though they have tried so hard to be polished and pure that it has somehow sanitised the raw energy. The album starts strong, but fades into mediocrity, peeking out its head again with only a couple more stand-out tracks. These later songs - whilst pleasing to listen to, do not show any real creativity or distinction over what has come before. I think too much emphasis has been put on the vocals, and the music is somewhat subdued and tamed beside it. The two need to act in concert to create more energy and atmosphere.

Because I do really like the first two songs plus "Eversleeping" and "My Scarlet Name", I'm umming and hahhing with how to rate this album, trying to decide between a better-than-average but unremarkable six and a quite-good-but-not-excellent seven.

Rating = 6.5/10

Nightwish - Century Child (2002)

Nightwish are a magnificent band - formed in 1996, by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and vocalist Tarja Turunen. By the time this album was released, Marco Hietala had joined the band and took over the male vocals. Tarja's voice is elegant and other-worldly, a beautiful counterpoint to the heavy music and Marco's occasional growls.

This packaging is beautiful - a woman crouches before a waterfall, cradling a black rose. The colours - black and purple, seem to evoke the general feel of the music, which is rich and multi-layered. However, the font is pretty difficult to read with the white seeming to be shadowed against the purple. This may just be my version - which I obtained from Russia via Ebay.

 It opens with a short spoken piece and then breaks into the epic "Bless the Child". This contains the line:

"Think of me long enough to make a memory."

A line which I have always found somewhat heart-breaking.

"End of all Hope" is epic and powerful.

"Dead to the World" is an interesting one, with the male vocals seeming to dominate at least in the start - but Marco isn't growling here, he's actually singing - and not half bad at it either. Tarja's voice soars against his raw notes, in the Beauty and the Beast styling that I described earlier.

With its beautiful opening piano, "Ever Dream" is an ethereal lullaby - breaking into true Nightwish symphonic style, before the sweet-natured, silver-throated vocals return.

"Slaying the Dreamer" is a little more hardcore, at least musically, the vocals still sweet but with a harsh edge of threat. Marco's vocals are very aggressive. This is a song of betrayal and anger.

As though to alleviate the negative emotion of the preceding song, "Forever Yours" is very sweet and gentle, a whispered caress of gentle percussion and wind instruments.

Similarly gentle is "Ocean Soul". It also includes one of the most memorable choruses.

This is followed by the beautiful and romantic "Feel for You". Or to be precise, it sounds romantic - until Marco comes in and it takes a startlingly dark turn:

"...Barely cold in her grave, barely warm in my bed..."

 I hope it's more about someone else usurping another's widowed husband rather than necrophilia!

"Phantom of the Opera" is an EPIC rendition of this classic tune. Tarja's voice handles it so well and the music just sends energy and power surging through me. No matter the version, the opening chords of this song always stir something deep in my viscera.

"Beauty and the Beast" brings this CD to a powerful conclusion. Despite the epic nature of the song, it does not quite haunt me the way some of the earlier pieces do, but it is still a masterfully written and performed piece.

Overall, an amazing album from an amazing band. There's not much more to say about Nightwish - except that they certainly deserve the rep they have earned and are also awesome live - even without the magnificent vocals of Tarja.

9/10

Candlemass - Epicus Doomicus Metallicus (1986)

Ah, the first Candlemas album, before they took on the majesty of Messiah Marcolin and had instead Johan Langquist on vocals.

This album is very old, I was 9 when it was released. Disregarding the slightly silly title - silly it may be, but it certainly does describe this album and the pretty crummy cover - this is a damned fine album.

Candlemass were a Swedish band that formed in 1984 and I discovered in the Great Metal Revelation that was my teenage years. It may seem strange that the bands I would commonly claim as my favourites were Candlemass (admittedly, Marcolin-lead Candlemass, I discovered this CD later) and Helloween - two metal bands that may seem like polar opposites of one another. I believe Candlemass spoke to the angst-ridden, hormonely-tormented me - the me that luxuriated in feelings of misery and gloom.

I just looked up Candlemass on Wikipedia and discovered that for SIX WHOLE YEARS they had Robert Lowe as their vocalist. Robert Lowe*! The only band that can compete with Candlemass for melancholic emotion were Solitude Aeturnus. I MUST track down "King of the Grey Islands" and/or "Death Magic Doom".

Anyhow, back to this album - their very first:

With its slow and dramatic opening chords, we are immersed into the majesty of "Solitude" - a song that drips with melancholy and loneliness, a song that sings of death and the desire to be alone with it. Whilst not as elegant a vocalist as Messiah, Langquist's low voice is filled with the emotion and conveys the doomladen tone with suitable power.

"Hate is my only friend, Pain is my father. Torment is delight to me. Death is my sanctuary, I seek it with pleasure. Please let me die in solitude..."

"Demon's Gate" is suitably ominous, beginning with a rather creepy, almost demonic voice proclaiming the entry into this other realm of terror and darkness, before we are once again treated to Langquist's emotive vocal style. The bass and drums are slow but heavy, laden with doom. The tempo increases slightly, becoming more ominous as the song progresses and the vocals turn, at times, almost frenzied, before fading into a slower central beat, in which the drummer hammers away in a rather dramatic fashion. It attains an almost dirge-like quality, before the lyrics start again from the beginning, Langquist sounding somewhat more anxious.

Lyric sheet could do with a bit of a proof-read, however. Should it be "Demons Gate" or "Demon's Gate"?
Also, "...where it's darkness..."

We are pounded into "Crystal Ball," and experience once more Langquist switching from low and melancholic to shrill and frantic.

"Black Stone Wielder" is suitably pounding.

The brooding "Under the Oak" is a haunting piece. Langquist's voice soars over the instruments and tells us of a time when the world has died, and all that remains is he - a single man left after the Lord has swept away mankind. Certainly, Candlemass may have religious elements to their lyrics, but their God is anything but benign. 

The epic "A Sorcerer's Pledge" is probably my favourite song on this CD, and also displays that the sleeve-designers DO understand punctuation. It begins with low, ominous vocals, weaving the start of the story about the Sorcerer's desire to cheat time. Actually, reading the lyrics, they do not make a lot of sense. Anyhow, who cares, this is a song, not a novel! The slow build ends savagely as we soar into Part II, where the Sorcerer's evil schemes are revealed and his plans to rise and rule take hold. Part III describes the rather anti-climactic results of his plans. All in all, not a great plot, but an awesome song.

 The pacing of all these songs is slow and powerful, as befits the genre known as "doom metal", for which Candlemass were the GODS, drawing inspiration from Black Sabbath's darker moments. There are no additional instruments past the standard lead guitar, bass guitar, rhythm guitar and drums. This is basic, primeval metal. Dark and heavy, it reaches deep into your soul with its gloom-laden vocals and pounds in your viscera. It is not happy music, but it is not aggressive either. Not even depressing (although sometime of the lyrics are rather negative).

Rating = 7/10



However, now I've got distracted and am listening to Robert Lowe sing The Bleeding Baronness on youtube (no video, alas, it would be interesting to see how he has aged). Well, looking at him on wikipedia - much like the rest of us - larger, older, actually looks a little like Bill Bailey. Hrm...

* Not to be confused with the actor by the similar name, who is also rather lovely.