Year: 2020
Total Time: 20:01
Label: Napalm Records

2019 was a very important year for the Swedish Doom Metal tycoons. They released an excellent album, “Door to Doom” that signaled the return in action of the first singer of the band Johan Langquist who was in the fist, now historical record “Epicus Doomicus Metallicus” in 1986. Since then, we have lost his traces, we only see him in the Swedish AOR band IMPULSIA (with members from ROYAL HUNT, TALISMAN etc.) releasing just one record in 2009 and then again nothing. But maybe this release was good enough for Leif Elding to decide it’s time to bring him back a few years later as a tour guest at first and now permanent again. Now, in between the release of the last album and while we are waiting for a new one to be out sometime in the future, the band puts out this EP with what we would say “leftovers” from the recording sessions.

So, we have a total of 6 songs, but to be more precise and in order not to get the fans over excited, only 3 are complete songs and another 3 are just small instrumentals, apparently from rehearsals or recordings that were left out in the end.

Starting is the same-titled track, the only recording with proper mixing and mastering and of course is the top moment of this mini album. After a small melodic intro, there comes the heavy guitar and then the drums and everything else in order to give us one more classic CANDLEMASS which I wonder why it was left outside ”The door to doom” album. Maybe they had already planned this release and wanted to include something really strong. Almost the same comments go for “Snakes of Goliath” that comes next, in a demo version but sounding pretty good all in all. Heavy and slow as it should be, it’s a common sense that it will be properly released in the future because this version here doesn’t do it any justice at all. Same goes for “Porcelain Skull” but for the 3 small (average running time 1:30 minutes) instrumentals with titles “Sub Zero”, “Aftershock” and “Cold Room” there isn’t really anything to say.

Obviously this is a teaser release, mostly for the die-hard fans and the completists who would fancy one of the limited edition coloured vinyls in their collection with one great song, two more for “digestion” and that’s all he wrote. The rest of the friends and the fans should be patient until the next album, or playback once again the really good last years album “The door to doom”.

Rating: 6/10
Editor: Antonis Livanios
Related Link: CANDLEMASS – Official Page