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Reviews

Candlemass: Dactylis glomerata

16/03/09  ||  Global Domination

Leif Edling is Candlemass. Leif kicks ass, eats midgets for breakfast, dominates emocore fags and rapes goats. Hell, Leif is a dark deity for all we fucken know! After the classic Candlemass line-up disbanded following the release in 1992 of “Chapter VI”, he was also the creative force behind Abstrakt Algebra, a project he started in order to mix doom, power and progressive influences into one big mess. While Abstrakt Algebra’s sole album wasn’t actually bad at all, it certainly wasn’t received with much enthusiasm by the avid metal hordes out there. Bad, naughty Leif…

So the Candlemass we once knew was no more. Dead, buried and rotting. Then along came the band’s record label Music for Nations who, seeing Abstrakt Algebra not doing well, insisted on Leif releasing the material hereby known as “Dactylis Glomerata” under the Candlemass moniker. Leif assembled a decent support cast of musicians, including guitar ace Mike Amott, and then the year 1998 saw this new doom beast unleashed unto the unsuspecting public. As per Leif himself, included here were songs originally written for Abstrakt Algebra, plus some new material he wrote later, once it was decided it would be a Candlemass album.

Now, the term “beast” is an intentional overstatement from my part. It’s undeniable that Candlemass’ output during the 1990’s is nowhere near the quality of their four legendary classics of the 1980’s. It’s also going a bit too far making these the worst releases ever under the gloomy grey skies. I’ve already made my thoughts known about “Chapter VI”, so now I’ll turn to “Dactylis Glomerata”.

The most significant difference between this record and earlier works lays in the choice of sound and the more laid-back approach to songwriting. Perhaps in accordance to the brooding nature of most songs in the album, the production chosen is not as crystal clear as what we were used to from the band. Suffice to say, it works for the most part, a little mud and distortion thrown into the doom mix never hurts. There are also a few small disruptive sound effects, probably originating from a keyboard, which is another first for the band. As per the songwriting, it’s definitely not as flamboyant as in the classic power doom style of the past, relying on slow build ups of heaviness and depressive atmospheres much more.

There’s two instrumental tracks, a weird interlude by the name of “Cylinder” and the unnecessary outro “Molotov”, which leave us with seven actual songs to dissect. Interestingly enough, the slower, moodier tracks are the ones that work out the better. The ones I’d venture were composed by Leif with Candlemass in mind, you know? “I Still See the Black”, “Dustflow”, “Karthago” and “Apathy”, I’d say. “Abstrakt Sun”, although being obviously written with Abstrakt Algebra in mind, works well as a Candlemass song too. These are naturally gloom-filled, morose tunes, good yet not reaching the heights of brilliance we were used to expect from Leif. The faster songs, “Wiz” and “Molotov”, do really stink though. These two don’t sound right from the start, and are bad anyway you approach them. Hell, these would’ve sounded horrible even if released by Abstrakt Algebra.

It’s important to remark too that new front man Björn Flodkvist was in all probability the least gifted vocalist ever to perform for Candlemass. A solid singer with an appropriately mournful voice, he wasn’t actually bad; his problem is that he wasn’t as outrageously good as any of his predecessors. His voice works well on the slower songs, a constructive reason as to why these are so enjoyable to me: they suit Flodkvist’s style very well. On the fast ones though, his lack of range becomes a glaring flaw. He got at lot better on “From the 13th Sun”, but that’s a subject I’ll deal with on another day.

The rest of the band performs to a very decent standard. Leif is his usually uber-heavy self on the bass, while Perkovic’s drumming is pretty much spot on. Mike Amott pulls off a very credible job tackling on the sort of guitar work he wasn’t really known for. A death metal fiend through and through, he’ll always be associated with the flesh-ripping guitar wizardry of his days in Carcass or Arch Enemy. But in disregard of this stylistic abyss, he adjusts his playing really well to the Candlemass frame, and carries out to perfection the heavy riffs concocted by Leif.

I might conclude by naming and partially shaming “Dactylis Glomerata” as the weakest album of Candlemass’ discography. It’s not a dreadful effort by all means, and I really enjoy listening to those songs I highlighted previously as the good cuts, but overall it compares poorly to the other records in terms of songwriting strength. We need to take into consideration the fact that Leif was a slightly confused deity at this point, and if I recall on later interviews actually regretted his decision to include stuff here that shouldn’t have bear Candlemass’ name. Thus, the end result is a disjointed piece of work that is better listened to in parts instead of as a whole.

5 cylinders up yer Abstrakt ass out of 10.

• Information
• Released: 1998
• Label: Music for Nations
• Website: www.candlemass.se
• Band
• Michael Amott: guitar
• Carl Westholm: keyboards
• Leif Edling: bass
• Jejo Perkovic: drums
• Björn Flodkvist: vocals

• Tracklist
• 01. Wiz
• 02. I Still See the Black
• 03. Dustflow
• 04. Cylinder
• 05. Karthago
• 06. Abstrakt Sun
• 07. Apathy
• 08. Lidocain God
• 09. Molotov

Reviews