Candlemass – Black Star
Candlemass – Black Star
Napalm Records
Release Date: 09/05/2025
Review by Rory Bentley
7/10
Look, cards on the table, I love Candlemass more than you probably love certain members of your own family. Particularly if your surname is Fritzel. I want massive, crushing riffs, epic keyboard embellishments that sound like Gregorian monks singing in a dungeon, and lyrics about evil, demons and crystal balls. Candlemass have spent 40 years ticking the shit out of all these boxes, and long may they continue!
From Ghost to Crypt Sermon, and even arguably cyclically influencing Black Sabbath during their lesser known years (Looking at you “Headless Cross”) the band have been a seminal part of the heavy music landscape – heck the Iron Man himself, Tony Iommi, contributed solos on one of their recent releases! The point being that spreading evil vibes for 40 years is cause for celebration, and that comes in the form of a tasty little EP called “Black Star”. Hopefully, unlike the David Bowie swansong release of the same name, it will not be their last.
What we get here is not going to make the top of any ‘where to start with’ lists, but for the die-hards and the already initiated, it is a fun little victory lap of a legendary career long since cemented. The EP consists of two original new tracks and some incredibly on-the-nose but nonetheless enjoyable covers of Doom classics. Of the originals, it is the title track that shines the brightest (or darkest, I guess). A killer riff and Johan Längqvist’s growled bellowing of the song title are the main hook, however, when things speed up 70s-Sabbath-style in the middle, it feels like a party at the spooky castle on the mountain. The bass and guitar tones are utterly filthy, and it’s cool to hear classic bands adapting to modern production and adding extra bite to their sound.
‘Corridors of Chaos’ is a decent sub-4-minute instrumental banger that is enjoyable while it’s on, but won’t be lingering in the mind at the expense of ‘Bewitched’ or ‘Solitude’. Probably wouldn’t have killed them to put some vocals on to make things a bit more memorable, but it is nonetheless inoffensive.
Of the covers, ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’ is the most successful for me. Johan puts in a gravel-throated take on the classic Ozzy vocal performance and hits all the high notes impressively. You can’t improve on perfection, however, the mountains of chugging distortion piled onto the killer breakdown section is delightfully muscular. Plus Johan does what any right-thinking person should do when covering the song and shouts the “YOU BASTARD!” a bit before the solo, like he’s trying to rupture his lungs. Excellent.
The cover of ‘Forever My Queen’ by Doom legends Pentagram is also a lot of fun, with Jan Lindh driving the funky beat home on the kit while that sublime guitar tone injects even more meanness to the vocals’ iconic riffs. Despite putting in another great shift in the booth, however, Johan fails to capture the swagger of real-life sleazy bastard and possessor of dinner plate eyes, Bobby Leibling. There’s something slightly awkward about a guy who permanently sounds like an evil wizard taking on a steamy, lusty number like this, but I’m kind of glad it exists nonetheless.
Think of this as an Epic Doom party popper- loud, garish, fun in the right context, and not long enough to be annoying. And if you haven’t already, go and listen to pretty much the entire Candlemass discography because they’re the goats!
‘Black Star’ Official Video
TRACKLISTING:
01. Black Star
02. Corridors Of Chaos
03. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
04. Forever My Queen
LINKS:
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