CANDLEMASS — Psalms for the Dead (review)

CANDLEMASS — Psalms for the Dead album cover Album · 2012 · Doom Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"Psalms for the Dead" is the 11th full-length studio album by Swedish doom metal act Candlemass. The album was released through Napalm Records in June 2012. In several interviews leading up to the release of the album, members of the band have stated that "Psalms for the Dead" will be the last Candlemass release but that they won´t split up. I guess that means that they will occasionally tour with the material they have already recorded. The album features the same lineup who recorded the last two albums, but lead vocalist Robert Lowe was fired from the band just around the time of the album´s release.

A decision to stop recording new material while you are still on top of your game, is always a hard decision to make. But it´s sometimes the most wise one if you count integrity and how you are gonna be remembered in the future as important career goals. Considering the generally high quality of the material on "Psalms for the Dead", it might just be a little too soon to stop for Candlemass though.

The music on "Psalms for the Dead" is traditional doom metal with an epic edge and it´s not surprisingly the unmistakable sound of Candlemass. The riffs and the rhythms are brick heavy yet feature enough groove to drive the music forward in an energetic fashion, the guitar leads are melodic, and the vocals by Robert Lowe are powerful and skillfully executed. There are excursions into faster (well...relatively) paced traditional heavy metal territory too like it´s the case on "Dancing in the Temple (Of the Mad Queen Bee)" but the music is generally doomy, slow, or mid paced. The band have opted to include quite a bit of organ in their music this time around and that might prove to be an aquired taste for some. It´s adds an organic 70s atmosphere to the album, and it also makes the album stand out a bit from the rest of the band´s discography.

The sound production is clear and powerful and suits the music well. Paired with the high standard musicianship and the strong songwriting, that makes for one hell of a great doom metal release and "Psalms for the Dead" fully deserves a 4 star (80%) rating.
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UMUR wrote:
more than 2 years ago
...since they are not offcially split-up, who knows? They may decide at some point in the future that they have enough quality material written and a new lead vocalist to give it a go. Let´s hope so.
Time Signature wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Listening to the album is a bittersweet experience, because it signals the end of a great and influential recording career. Maybe they'll decide to release a studio album some years from now anyway.

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