The wait for a new Candlemass album can often be slower than their riffs so it’s always a pleasant surprise when an interim release appears on the horizon. Four-track EP Black Star (Napalm Records) might only contain two original songs from the Godfathers of Swedish Doom but, as usual, it’s a tale of quality over quantity.
The six-minute title track opens with heartfelt vocals from Johan Länquist backed by gentle acoustic guitar notes before an ominous pick scrape leads you down into the realm of reliable, familiar, and all-crushing DOOM. A dark, creeping riff and an instantly catchy and more uptempo one leads the song firmly into classic Black Sabbath territory before a great solo from Lars Johansson leads the song back to its powerful and deliberate chorus.
“Corridors Of Chaos” boasts a colossal, lumbering riff augmented by some sensational bluesy soloing, the four-minute instrumental piece resembling prime Paradise Lost before ending like a Doom Metal version of Pantera‘s “Domination.”
For the most part, the band’s cover of “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” is as faithful as it comes, the one major difference being Länquist’s gravelly, almost strained delivery and the occasional alterations to Ozzy‘s original vocal melodies. Johansson and axe partner Mappe Björkman give the middle section a little melodic oomph (some technical music terminology for you there), and the killer final riff finds itself slowed down and played in a slightly more staccato style.
As for drummer James Lind, and bassist and founder member Leif Edling, their most prominent contributions are to be found on an absolutely killer version of “Forever My Queen” by US Doom legends Pentagram. A throaty vocal from Länquist makes it a very different beast from Bobby Liebling‘s clean delivery, but the seventies vibe is still very much there, just with a thicker, more distorted guitar sound.
A fantastic little stopgap release, Black Star boasts a great production, top drawer original material, two superb covers, and is guaranteed to get many heads banging. Just very, very slowly.
Buy the album here:
https://napalmrecords.com/candlemass
8 / 10
GARY ALCOCK
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