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Candlemass - Epicus Doomicus Metallicus



8.9 | 738 votes |
Release date: 10 June 1986
Style: Epic doom metal

Owners:

835 have it
96 want it
1 trades it


Disc I
01. Solitude
02. Demon's Gate
03. Crystal Ball
04. Black Stone Wielder
05. Under The Oak
06. A Sorcerer's Pledge

Disc II [2006 re-release] [live DVD bonus]
01. Well Of Souls
02. Demons Gate
03. Crystal Ball
04. Solitude
05. Bewitched
06. A Sorcerer's Pledge
07. Black Sabbath Medley

Top 20 albums of 1986: 3
Top 200 albums of all time: 60

Additional info
Recorded at Thunderload Studios.
Produced by Candlemass.

Guest review by
marco
Rating:
9.0
The classic Epicus Doomicus Metallicus was the first doom metal album ever and set the standard that many bands have tried to cover for years while Candlemass still produced quality doom metal. And this is the only album where Johan Lanquist is the lead singer.

This masterpiece opens up with the suicidal 'Solitude'. One of the most depressing songs in metal history. The melody is beautiful and the atmospheric guitar riffs are just divine while the lyrics take to you a another world: the world of Candlemass or to your own black universe filled with fear and anger. The second song 'Demon's Gate' is the same material but a bit slower song. Technicly speaking the whole album is slow and full of melodies. 'Crystal Ball' follows exactly the same while having a slow melodic rhythm. The follow-up 'Black Stone Wielder' is a bit ?happier? song on this dark album. When you close you're eyes then you might notice a slight similarity with some classic masterminds like Wagner.

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published 10.09.2003 | Comments (23)

10.06.2021
In 1986, when every band tried their hardest to be faster than the rest, Candlemass showed the world that the words 'heavy' and 'speed' don't always have to go together. The low end, the deep sound, and the darkness brought by the hand of doom was unparalleled on Epicus Doomicus Metallicus and remains like that up to this day. Nothing has ever come close to the sheer brilliance of this album in 35 years. More classic than the classics. More epic than the epics.

Doom. Metal. Perfection.

"Earth to earth
Ashes to ashes
Dust to dust
And please let me die in solitude..."

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Comments page 2 / 2

Comments: 41   Visited by: 1582 users
18.12.2020 - 18:05
Rating: 10
Redel

Every once in a while someone should remind the world of this masterpiece.
Now it's my turn.
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17.04.2021 - 01:53
Alakazam
spendin' cheese
The best album from 1986. The best album from the 1980s.

Hell, let's not kid yourself, it's better than anything Black Sabbath collectively accomplished. This is the album Tony wished he made instead of Seventh Star.
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I may not have the largest collection but I certainly have the absolute best

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17.04.2021 - 15:23
JoHn Doe

Written by Alakazam on 17.04.2021 at 01:53

The best album from 1986. The best album from the 1980s.

Hell, let's not kid yourself, it's better than anything Black Sabbath collectively accomplished. This is the album Tony wished he made instead of Seventh Star.


"Best album" is all subjective.
Also let's not kid ourselves, without the success of Black Sabbath, there wouldn't be the Candlemass as we know it.

How do you know that EDM is the album Tony wished he made? Did Tony tell you? Where have you heard or read it?
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I thought the two primary purposes for the internet were cat memes and overreactions.
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17.04.2021 - 17:05
Alakazam
spendin' cheese
Written by JoHn Doe on 17.04.2021 at 15:23

"Best album" is all subjective.
Also let's not kid ourselves, without the success of Black sabbath, there wouldn't be the Candlemass as we know it.

How do you know the EDM is the album Tony wished he made? Did Tony tell you? Where have you heard or read it?


Saying 'best album' is all subjective is like saying all quality or power is equal objectively.

I'm not talking about Black Sabbath's success but of quality alone. There's a lot of identity crisis filler throughout almost all of their works whereas especially with this record there is no mistaken identity, anxiety, or sense of embarrassment. The themes are completely embraced. Not sure how to describe it best outside of the lack of evident filler in the strength of its songwriting direction.

And yes Tony did tell me haha. You can even tell by the sheer inspiration drop of Black Sabbath once doom metal fleshed out its independence however to Black Sabbath the topic of doom metal associated with them became the unmovable elephant in their minds rooms. The Candlemass worship is especially apparent hereafter in the Tony Martin era etc.
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I may not have the largest collection but I certainly have the absolute best

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17.04.2021 - 17:21
JoHn Doe

Written by Alakazam on 17.04.2021 at 17:05

Written by JoHn Doe on 17.04.2021 at 15:23

"Best album" is all subjective.
Also let's not kid ourselves, without the success of Black sabbath, there wouldn't be the Candlemass as we know it.

How do you know the EDM is the album Tony wished he made? Did Tony tell you? Where have you heard or read it?


Saying 'best album' is all subjective is like saying all quality or power is equal objectively.

I'm not talking about Black Sabbath's success but of quality alone. There's a lot of identity crisis filler throughout almost all of their works whereas especially with this record there is no mistaken identity, anxiety, or sense of embarrassment. The themes are completely embraced. Not sure how to describe it best outside of the lack of evident filler in the strength of its songwriting direction.

And yes Tony did tell me haha. You can even tell by the sheer inspiration drop of Black Sabbath once doom metal fleshed out its independence however to Black Sabbath the topic of doom metal associated with them became the unmovable elephant in their minds rooms. The Candlemass worship is especially apparent hereafter in the Tony Martin era etc.


I'm not sure I understand your first sentence there.

I wonder if Tony knew about Candlemass in the late 80s, even early 90s.
Calling Sabbath doom metal belittles the uniqueness of their music in the 70s. Yes, they are the fathers of the genre, but they are labelled "doom" from today's perspective, if I mat say so. I've even seen them labelled as stoner rock and I cringed.

I also don't find the Candlemass worship in the Tony Martin era, I think Tony Martin was a Dio substitute (and I mean it in a good way), I believe it's the sound of the Dio era albums they were aiming for.
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I thought the two primary purposes for the internet were cat memes and overreactions.
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17.04.2021 - 18:36
Alakazam
spendin' cheese
Written by JoHn Doe on 17.04.2021 at 17:21

I'm not sure I understand your first sentence there.

I wonder if Tony knew about Candlemass in the late 80s, even early 90s.
Calling Sabbath doom metal belittles the uniqueness of their music in the 70s. Yes, they are the fathers of the genre, but they are labelled "doom" from today's perspective if I mat say so. I've even seen them labelled as stoner rock and I cringed.

I also don't find the Candlemass worship in the Tony Martin era, I think Tony Martin was a Dio substitute (and I mean it in a good way), I believe it's the sound of the Dio era albums they were aiming for.

Basically, that subjectivity specifically upon works' quality/ strengths compared to other works can only last for so long until it eats itself due to merely comparing flaws be it in sound and style, I guess. I don't grasp how work can be completely subjectively treated equally only due to the conclusive collective result. That's not to say there are outliers as I suffice coming to terms with being one. As talented or original quality and strength of works of art do not care for feelings of the time except to what draws people to them. That's not to say opinions like my initial comment can't exist yet they become semantics onto mundane pointless conclusions about ongoing topics such as these. Sorry if this is too much confusion however one way I view the best art is akin to that of champions and elites etc.

If Tony knew about Cathedral and Type O Negative, he knew about Candlemass.
I'm contrary to advocating strict labelling of genres without being open-minded to the potential. It's a way for me to understand the art and artists closer.

Either way, Candlemass sounds and fucks harder than both. Martin's era bleeds in reminiscence to Candlemass. Also:
----
I may not have the largest collection but I certainly have the absolute best

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17.04.2021 - 20:08
JoHn Doe

Written by Alakazam on 17.04.2021 at 18:36

Written by JoHn Doe on 17.04.2021 at 17:21

I'm not sure I understand your first sentence there.

I wonder if Tony knew about Candlemass in the late 80s, even early 90s.
Calling Sabbath doom metal belittles the uniqueness of their music in the 70s. Yes, they are the fathers of the genre, but they are labelled "doom" from today's perspective if I mat say so. I've even seen them labelled as stoner rock and I cringed.

I also don't find the Candlemass worship in the Tony Martin era, I think Tony Martin was a Dio substitute (and I mean it in a good way), I believe it's the sound of the Dio era albums they were aiming for.

Basically, that subjectivity specifically upon works' quality/ strengths compared to other works can only last for so long until it eats itself due to merely comparing flaws be it in sound and style, I guess. I don't grasp how work can be completely subjectively treated equally only due to the conclusive collective result. That's not to say there are outliers as I suffice coming to terms with being one. As talented or original quality and strength of works of art do not care for feelings of the time except to what draws people to them. That's not to say opinions like my initial comment can't exist yet they become semantics onto mundane pointless conclusions about ongoing topics such as these. Sorry if this is too much confusion however one way I view the best art is akin to that of champions and elites etc.

If Tony knew about Cathedral and Type O Negative, he knew about Candlemass.
I'm contrary to advocating strict labelling of genres without being open-minded to the potential. It's a way for me to understand the art and artists closer.

Either way, Candlemass sounds and fucks harder than both. Martin's era bleeds in reminiscence to Candlemass.


All I meant to say was that terms like "best" or "worst" album are subjective, usually people just mention their favorite album from a band or the album they disliked the most.

Cathedral are British so i guess Tony knew about them. Also Cathedral came a bit later than Candlemass. What you are implying and correct me if I am wrong is that Candlemass was an influence on Black Sabbath statring 1987 when Tony Martin came and sang on The Eternal Idol. But then Black sabbath with Ozzy and Dio was definitely an influence on Candlemass, so I don't know.
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I thought the two primary purposes for the internet were cat memes and overreactions.
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05.05.2021 - 19:07
Rating: 9
nonZero

Solitude and A Sorcerer's Pledge are the stand-out tracks for me here. Otherwise, it's a collection of good, well-written songs.

8.8/10
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28.09.2021 - 01:08
Rating: 10
F3ynman2000
Nocturnal Bro
Very interesting album! I found the songwriting (the lyrical themes as well as the structure of the songs) quite unique!
Great doom-riffs, phenomenal drumming, and operatic singing with an element of ambiguity and mystery (who were the stone wielders?, why was he the last man on Earth in "Under the Oak"? and what happened to the sorcerer at the end... he became a baby?)
Overall a very fun album! "Please let me die in solitude!"
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12.01.2022 - 23:30
Rating: 10
F3ynman2000
Nocturnal Bro
Demon's Gate is such an amazing song.... every time I listen to it, I get lost in its mesmerizing atmosphere
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27.01.2024 - 15:59
Caio

Best Doom Metal album ever that Tony Iommi is not in it.
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