Candlemass: Nightfall

Candlemass: Nightfall

1987

Peaceville Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Gothic Stone  2. The Well of Souls  3. Codex Gigas  4. At the Gallows End  5. Samarithan  6. Marche Funèbre  7. Dark Are the Veils of Death  8. Mourners Lament  9. Bewitched  10. Black Candles



Alright, here's how it went down...I went to the record store one day and cracked up at some record hanging on the wall by a guy named Thor:

 I found the record so amusing that I told my good buddy Joe about it, who went one step further and watched the video and recommended I watch it too. I did and it was fucking hilarious...Here, check it out if you don't believe me:

This led me down the rabbit-hole of recommended youtube videos all sporting the title of "Worst Music Video Ever" or some variation on that phrase...I sat glued to my computer all night cracking up at horrible video after horrible video until I reached one for a song called "Bewitched" by a band named Candlemass...

 As I watched the video, I did bust a gut laughing at the bargain basement visuals but after it was done playing I couldn't shake the feeling that the song was...I don't know...Fucking awesome...I was a little put off by the vocals but decided to play it once more.  On the second run-through the vocals had grown on me and I knew I had to find a copy of this album...

I went to Zia Records a day or two later and lo and behold, they had a used double-disc CD reissue for sale for just a couple bucks...Done deal...I took it home and put it on the stereo and was greeted by the Casio Symphony Orchestra...

Uh oh...Symphonic metal?  Not what I was looking for, but it turns out there was no reason to be worried...Y'see, this album is broken down like this: 4 brief instrumental interludes and 6 epic-length slabs of doom metal...When the first actual track ("The Well of Souls") actually kicks in I was in sludge heaven...

I recommend this for anyone with a boner for Tony Iommi riffs...Boi-oi-oi-oing! These guys are dedicated Sabbath disciples who are arguably even more committed to thick, towering, immobile, pitch-black riffs than Sabbath themselves...The only warning I can give a Sabbath fan before buying this album is that the vocals might be an acquired taste...Messiah Marcolin delivers every line in a lovably goofball overblown operatic manner that appears to be a bit above his skill-set...So don't expect a precise, nuanced, controlled operatic delivery in the Bruce Dickinson manner...It gives it a great camp quality that those of us wired more for punk than metal might appreciate more than the average metal-head. That said, I can't imagine any respectable metal-head not losing his/her shit over all this heaviness...Track after track of glacial riffs dripping with menacing distortion, only working itself up to a "Children of the Grave" gallop on  sections of "At the Gallows End " and on "Dark Are the Veils of Death" when they managed to whip things up to an Iron Maiden tempo...

Y'see, the key to any good doom metal album lies in the sonics...The tone. Is it thick? Meaty? Does each guitar riff slowly crawl out of your speakers and hang menacingly in the air? Check, check and check...You cannot listen to this quietly. You must turn them shits up. Louder. LOUDER! If the furniture isn't rumbling then you're not getting the full effect...

 The Cd version I have has a bonus disc chock full o' demos, alternate versions and live tracks...There's also an 25-minute interview where you find out these guys are...*gasp*...Swedish! To be honest, there's nothing too Earth-shattering on the second disc...The interview is actually the highlight, showing that the band has a pretty decent sense of humor (which I guess would come in handy after making the "Bewitched"video)...

In a way, I still marvel at how I went from laughing at this to worshiping it in such a short span of time...It really is top-notch if you're into the heavy shit and have an ear for retro-metal...Here, watch the "Bewitched" video below...You'll laugh the first time, guaranteed. Then play it without the visuals.