I picked this up yesterday. I've only been through it once, but I like it a lot. It is very much an old school record. It's such a strong record actually, that I'm not sure I miss Messiah in any way. Has anyone else given it a spin yet?
candlemass - King of the Grey Islands
- Thread starter ElectricWiz
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- Nov 24, 2002
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Many as MP3s. My copy is on the way, is fighting with Abandoned "Thrash You" for the title of best album of the year. And of course already have the best song of the year 'Of Stars And Smoke'.
I don't miss Messiah either, maybe because I'm a huge fan of Lowe's vocals in Solitude Aeturnus and in Last Chapter. I know many people displeased with the shoose of Rob and of course those who will never accept Messiah off the band.
But for me is a damn solid doom album and one of the best efforts of the band in their career.
NP: Machiavel - 'Rebirth'
I don't miss Messiah either, maybe because I'm a huge fan of Lowe's vocals in Solitude Aeturnus and in Last Chapter. I know many people displeased with the shoose of Rob and of course those who will never accept Messiah off the band.
But for me is a damn solid doom album and one of the best efforts of the band in their career.
NP: Machiavel - 'Rebirth'
I am not a Candlemass fan, but, as Wyvern, I love Rob Lowe's voice and I am eager to listen to this CD.
I fully agree! I´ve given this album 17 spins so far and I really like it. Considering the fact that I hardly buy any new metal albums these days (because most of what is being released simply doesn´t interest me), this comes a bit as a surprise. I had lost interest in Candlemass after Messiah left for the first time, but I was really impressed with their eponymously-titled comeback album and I think I like "King Of The Grey Islands" at least as much.
BTW, there are three different versions of the new album. The "ordinary" edition, a digipak-edition (it´s the one I´ve got), which features two bonus tracks - "At The Gallow´s End" and "Solitude" with Robert Lowe on vocals - and a tin-box edition, also with some bonus tracks (don´t know which ones).
np: Candlemass - "Devil Seed"
- Nov 24, 2002
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I believe that's the version coming my way, but I wouldn't be sure until the package arrives, which probably be next week (damn it I wanted to listen to it this weekend
)BTW, since I know you like a lot female fronted metal like I do, I recommend you to check Arabesque and Collusion.
NP: Masterplan - 'Take Me Over'
Really? Maybe you´ve got much more albums to listen to than me and try to listen to all of them regularly. I´ve got several hundred albums, but I only listen to about 120-150 of them per year and most of them (mostly older albums) only get about 1-10 spins per year, whereas the no. 1 in my yearly playlists usually gets more than 100 spins.
TENTH DREAMER DECEIVER
Halcyon Way Sufferer
- Jan 7, 2002
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tsorl
Borne on Wings of Steel
I saw the Lowe-Mass live last night, great concert and Robert sounded real good belting those old songs. To be honest I prefer his tone of voice to Messiah's, I absolutely understand if long-time Candlemass fans disagree but as a newbie I think I'm entitled to these kinda ignorant opinions.
Lowe did use a teleprompter for most of the set though. But hey, no big deal, it was just his 3rd Candlemass gig after all I think.
Setlist as far as I can recall:
At The Gallows End
Solitude
Emperor Of The Void
Devil Seed
Mirror Mirror
The Well Of Souls
The Bells Of Acheron
A Sorcerer's Pledge
-
Black Dwarf
Clearsight
I'm pretty sure I didn't forget any songs, the exact order is probably incorrect though. This was a festival so the set might be a bit shorter than usual, it was about 1h 15min overall so not bad for a festival gig at all. They're starting a European tour shortly so definitely go if you can!
I'll post some pictures/videos when I find them on the internet, didn't have a camera of my own unfortunately.
Lowe did use a teleprompter for most of the set though. But hey, no big deal, it was just his 3rd Candlemass gig after all I think.
Setlist as far as I can recall:
At The Gallows End
Solitude
Emperor Of The Void
Devil Seed
Mirror Mirror
The Well Of Souls
The Bells Of Acheron
A Sorcerer's Pledge
-
Black Dwarf
Clearsight
I'm pretty sure I didn't forget any songs, the exact order is probably incorrect though. This was a festival so the set might be a bit shorter than usual, it was about 1h 15min overall so not bad for a festival gig at all. They're starting a European tour shortly so definitely go if you can!
I'll post some pictures/videos when I find them on the internet, didn't have a camera of my own unfortunately.
- Nov 24, 2002
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I saw the Lowe-Mass live last night, great concert and Robert sounded real good belting those old songs. To be honest I prefer his tone of voice to Messiah's, I absolutely understand if long-time Candlemass fans disagree but as a newbie I think I'm entitled to these kinda ignorant opinions.
I'm with you. I have all Messiah material including Memento Mori's albums but you have to love Robert vocals not only in Solitude Aeturnus but in Last Chapter and now in Candlemass.
I'm so envious you were able to see them live albeit a bit dissapointed I'd love them to have played 'Of Stars And Smoke' I just can't get enough of that song.
NP: Pretty Maids - 'Destination Paradise'
Carcassian
Utopian Blaster
My review, if anyone is interested ?
It's a bit of a dream / nightmare scenario, depending on which side of the fence you sit on. Of course, for most bands, losing such a powerful singer and consummate showman as the now infamously departed-then-rejoined-then-departed-then-rejoined-then-departed again vocalist Messiah Marcollin would be the death knell. Let's be honest however, Candlemass is too much of a survivor to ever go down that easy. Changing vocalists with the frequency that most bands change their drummers is par for the course for Leif and his not-so-merry men. What has never dipped has been the quality of the output; Candlemass only ever produce double-A albums. So what do you do when your vocalist leaves after a triumphant and much lauded come back album? Easy. You bring in another doom legend. You make the fans salivate.
Of course, it's not the first time that Rob Lowe (Solitude Aeturnus throat) has belted out Candlemass – you can spot him doing an absolutely cosmic job of “Well of Souls” with his other outfit on the initial Candlemass DVD. What's remarkable is how much character and feeling he has brought back to the venerable godfathers of the second wave of doom. This is an absolute belter of an album; and pardon my French, but I think it knocks “Candlemass” into a cocked hat, and it may even rival the utter magnificence of “Nightfall”.
Where the preceding platter was too aggressive and polished to these ears, this is an album that drips melancholy and atmosphere, and retains an earthy grimness in the sound that most bands would simply kill to get a hold of. Let's be right here, the accompanying blurb says “this is not the final master”, but to be honest, I hope they don't change it too much. Yes, the production is dry and impersonal at the moment, and you don't have that punch in the guts quality that accompanied the last opus, but to these old ears, that's for the better and adds to the atmosphere of antiquity and the occult far more effectively.
As ever, though, it's the songs that count, and by jove, they haven't lost the plot here. Opener “Emperor of the void” is the perfect vehicle to showcase the soaring, powerful Lowe voice, where “Devil Seed” has one of those riffs that you swear was an obscure Sabbath song, but can't find a trace of it in your collection. “Of Stars and Smoke” is 100% genius – a true epic of a track that lurches between somber, menacing riffs, and the most soaring, uplifting chorus that Candlemass have ever created. Period. The track sounds as if it could have been at home on the masters very own “Heaven and Hell”, but had it been, it would have been the best track on there, by a long, long way. “Demonia 6” is unusually aggressive and belligerent, while “Destroyer”, resplendent with subtle Hammond organ touches is a nice nod back to the “Dactylis Glomerata” album.”Man of Shadows” benefits from the more restrained vocals of Lowe in a way that Messiah couldn't have made happen, and “Clearsight” opens with a riff equal parts “Well of Souls” and Amon Amarth! I kid you not!
I could bore you by telling you more about the impeccable musicianship, the unparalleled level of song writing and how Candlemass are again at the top of the Doom game, but let's just level with each other; you already knew that, didn't you? You just want to know if Rob Lowe replaces Messiah adequately. With him, Candlemass are a different beast, in some senses, but no less potent. Candlemass are dead.
Long live Candlemass.
It's a bit of a dream / nightmare scenario, depending on which side of the fence you sit on. Of course, for most bands, losing such a powerful singer and consummate showman as the now infamously departed-then-rejoined-then-departed-then-rejoined-then-departed again vocalist Messiah Marcollin would be the death knell. Let's be honest however, Candlemass is too much of a survivor to ever go down that easy. Changing vocalists with the frequency that most bands change their drummers is par for the course for Leif and his not-so-merry men. What has never dipped has been the quality of the output; Candlemass only ever produce double-A albums. So what do you do when your vocalist leaves after a triumphant and much lauded come back album? Easy. You bring in another doom legend. You make the fans salivate.
Of course, it's not the first time that Rob Lowe (Solitude Aeturnus throat) has belted out Candlemass – you can spot him doing an absolutely cosmic job of “Well of Souls” with his other outfit on the initial Candlemass DVD. What's remarkable is how much character and feeling he has brought back to the venerable godfathers of the second wave of doom. This is an absolute belter of an album; and pardon my French, but I think it knocks “Candlemass” into a cocked hat, and it may even rival the utter magnificence of “Nightfall”.
Where the preceding platter was too aggressive and polished to these ears, this is an album that drips melancholy and atmosphere, and retains an earthy grimness in the sound that most bands would simply kill to get a hold of. Let's be right here, the accompanying blurb says “this is not the final master”, but to be honest, I hope they don't change it too much. Yes, the production is dry and impersonal at the moment, and you don't have that punch in the guts quality that accompanied the last opus, but to these old ears, that's for the better and adds to the atmosphere of antiquity and the occult far more effectively.
As ever, though, it's the songs that count, and by jove, they haven't lost the plot here. Opener “Emperor of the void” is the perfect vehicle to showcase the soaring, powerful Lowe voice, where “Devil Seed” has one of those riffs that you swear was an obscure Sabbath song, but can't find a trace of it in your collection. “Of Stars and Smoke” is 100% genius – a true epic of a track that lurches between somber, menacing riffs, and the most soaring, uplifting chorus that Candlemass have ever created. Period. The track sounds as if it could have been at home on the masters very own “Heaven and Hell”, but had it been, it would have been the best track on there, by a long, long way. “Demonia 6” is unusually aggressive and belligerent, while “Destroyer”, resplendent with subtle Hammond organ touches is a nice nod back to the “Dactylis Glomerata” album.”Man of Shadows” benefits from the more restrained vocals of Lowe in a way that Messiah couldn't have made happen, and “Clearsight” opens with a riff equal parts “Well of Souls” and Amon Amarth! I kid you not!
I could bore you by telling you more about the impeccable musicianship, the unparalleled level of song writing and how Candlemass are again at the top of the Doom game, but let's just level with each other; you already knew that, didn't you? You just want to know if Rob Lowe replaces Messiah adequately. With him, Candlemass are a different beast, in some senses, but no less potent. Candlemass are dead.
Long live Candlemass.
Priest of Evil
Adores the Number 666
- Dec 1, 2005
- 1,938
- 4
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I heard this a bit over a week ago, just before I went to Heaven & Hell. I was pumped and beer fuelled but most importantly I was knocked to the floor and picked up again by the superb heavy fucking metal of King of the Grey Islands. I must own it soon
Papa Josh
Minister of Propaganda
I have been a longtime Candlemass fan, since 1990, when I heard Tales Of Creation. I have always liked Messiah, both in Candlemass and Memento Mori, and he did a killer cameo on Satariel's Phobos and Deimos cd, too. But, Robert Lowe is an excellent choice to replace him.
Plus, he's from Texas, so he gets preferential treatment. :Smug:
Plus, he's from Texas, so he gets preferential treatment. :Smug:
I'm bumping this thread once more simply because I am listening to this album more and more. It's really a smoker! Suddenly I'm listening to this an the last one a whole lot....
This record will definitely place somewhere on my top ten this year....
...and they just announced they are releasing the 20 year anniversary show on dvd...cool.
This record will definitely place somewhere on my top ten this year....
...and they just announced they are releasing the 20 year anniversary show on dvd...cool.
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