Review by Rexorcist for Candlemass - Epicus Doomicus Metallicus (1986)

The whole "epic metal" thing has been a staple of cheese ever since metal became a popular genre in 1980, and a large part of that is speed and precision.  Thankfully, somebody decided to take the more Sabbathian route and focus on the very same aspects of the Sabbath debut that made it so beloved, as well as later Sabbath Ozzy works.  Candlemass recognized that metal fans who stuck with their Sabbath loved the slower bits as well as the faster ones, and now we have a new genre to go with it.  This slower music would even help influence the same bands that loved their sludgy punkish Melvins.

Now a person unaware of their reputation online might take one look at the album's Dog Latin name and think, "Wow.  These guys must be a bunch of losers.  They're not even taking the album seriously."  Well, here's a shocker: serious is the only thing this album is.  Thanks to sticking with the ideals of doom, darkness, death and funerals, this album has absolutely none of the cheese that's normally attached to metal.  Each song is a long and focused trip into the world of ghosts, reaching our deepest emotions through a 45-minute constant of despair, a frightfully accurate recreation of the desire to end it all.  Now unlike the original Sabbath works, I have to take points off for staying in the same basic sound for the majority of the album.  But a perfect sense of the brand of darkness it's going for makes this one of the most essential albums ever made, as many bands were influenced by it for all the positive reasons.