Candlemass
Ancient Dreams

THE REVIEW

The Candlemass are a band that, for lovers of the darker and more oppressive heavy rock, needs little introduction. They are indeed rightly considered the founders of doom, or at least among those who have defined its sounds and themes.

The group's great merit was bringing back to prominence the darker Sabbathian sounds (those of albums like the first self-titled one, "Paranoid" and "Master of Reality"), which had been relegated to the background from the late 70s until the mid-80s. Parallel to what Kyuss did in the '90s (although following a different path), they managed to re-propose the Sabbathian riffs in a contemporary context and to a young audience, without sounding stale and, most importantly, without becoming mere copies of Black Sabbath. Instead, they themselves became seminal for an entire genre and models to be imitated. From this perspective, the proposal of Candlemass can be framed, as already mentioned, referring to the early Black Sabbath, adding to this a heavy matrix and epic atmospheres that distinguish the Swedish band from all other Doom bands.

"Ancient Dreams" is the third album, the second with Messiah Marcolin on vocals. It certainly doesn't have the same historical value as the two previous works, but it is absolutely not inferior. The only flaw, in my opinion, is the production, which seems "dry" (pardon the term) to me, making the sound not deep enough. However, this becomes a small detail compensated by the usual high compositional standard of the songs.

Compared to the previous "Nightfall," the atmospheres become slightly darker, also because the imposing Messiah Marcolin often sings in lower tones compared to the previous album, as shown for example in the beautiful title track, opened by a funereal riff and a dark, very evocative chorus, a characteristic nonetheless typical of many Candlemass tracks. Just think of the equally evocative chorus of "The Bells of Acheron", the sparse and oppressive riffs of "Incarnation of Evil". The opening track "Mirror Mirror", on the other hand, is the most direct, opened by a broken riff followed by the verse "Mirror mirror on the wall...", which remains ingrained from the first listen.

In short, all the tracks are a good synthesis of how a doom album should sound and, above all, give a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment that only those who know the genre can understand.

I can't help but conclude with a phrase from the Candlemass themselves, contained as a dedication in their first historic album "Epicus Doomicus Metallicus", which encapsulates their music and philosophy of life:

"To hatred, bitterness, suffering, discouragement, and drunkenness: without you, this record would not have been possible"