swedishdoommetal

 

Doom Metal, a genre born out of Black Sabbath's heaviness was further developed in the eighties, much thanks to all the Swedish Doom Metal bands. Candlemass might be the first band that comes to mind but there were several other bands that played doom metal in this rather small country with 8 million people back then. 

 Bands like Sorcerer, Mercy and Count Raven are also pretty known names in the Doom Metal circles and in this article we have put the focus on the years 1982-1994. These are the bands that created the Swedish Doom Metal Wonder.

CANDLEMASS

Candlemass formed out of the ashes of Nemesis. They became an internationally respected act after their debut album Epicus Doomicus Metallicus. Johan Längquist was their temporary vocalist was then replaced by Eddy 'Messiah' Marcolin from Mercy. With Matz Ekström and Klas Bergwall out of the picture the classic lineup of Messiah Marcolin, Leif Edling, Mats 'Mappe' Björkman, Jan Lindh and Lars 'Lasse' Johansson was established. This lineup would create some magic over the following years, forever carving the name Candlemass into the history books as "THE" Doom Metal band from Sweden.

Over the years Candlemass have recorded classic doom metal albums like: Epicus Doomicus Metallicus (1986), Nightfall (1987), Ancient Dreams (1988), Tales of Creation (1989), Chapter VI (1992) From the 13th Sun (1999) & Candlemass (2005) amongst others. Even if they had a lot of changes in the bands lineup, they have always delivered doom metal of the highest quality.

Candlemass - Nightfall

MERCY

Candlemass might have been the only band that made it big abroad but Mercy was one of the first bands that could be labelled as Doom Metal. Mercy debuted with the Swedish Metal EP in 1982, but by then Mercy had much more of a traditional heavy metal sound. On the self-titled debut album from 1984, Mercy took further steps towards Doom Metal but the album was mainly a heavy metal album. In 1985 Mercy released Witchburner, which was a remarkable release and it should have made them an internationally recognized band.

All the heavy metal influences from the early years was crushed by the bands new heaviness. But the momentum was somewhat lost when Messiah Marcolin decided to leave the band to join Candlemass. They replaced Messiah Marcolin with Rick Wine (Rickard Larsson). Mercy kept going with Andrija 'Witchking' Veljaca as the bands leader and main songwriter. The band released King Doom and Black Magic in 1989 and 1990.

In the 2000's the band had a smaller revival with the releases of Victory March in 2002, which was originally recorded in the late eighties. In 2003 Andrija 'Witchking' Veljaca recorded the Underground album by himself with the help of a session drummer.  In 2005 the same Andrija 'Witchking' Veljaca died and Mercy was forever disbanded.

Mercy - Witchburner

SORCERER

Candlemass was not the alone provider of Epic Doom Metal in Sweden. Stockholm based Sorcerer recorded two highly regarded demotapes, Sorcerer in 1989 and The Inquisition in 1992. Unfortunately the band didn't manage to secure a record deal at the time. Then bassist Johnny Hagel left the band to join Tiamat and Sorcerer disbanded.

In the mid nineties John Perez of Solitude Aeturnus released Sorcerer's old material on CD through his Brainticket label. Sorcerer also appeared on the Rockbox compilation. In 2010 original members Johnny Hagel and Anders Engberg reformed the band and signed up to Metal Blade Records and their debut album In the Shadow of the Inverted Cross was released in 2015. They also released the Black EP in late 2015.

HELS

Heavy / Doom metal band Hels from Oxelösund released the single Birth / Death on Death Squad Sound in 1985. They also appeared with two songs the compilation Klipp-Rock Vol.1. Not much is known about this band but the material that they put out should have granted them a full-length release but that never happened.

FAITH

Faith from Karlshamn formed in 1984 by Roger Johansson (guitars), Christer Nilsson (bass, vocals) and Peter Svensson (drums), out of the ashes of Stormbringer. They were another talented band that didn't get all the opportunities they deserved. They recorded two demo tapes in the mid eighties. In 1986 Faith released the Hymn of the Sinner 7" single in 500 copies.

Despite the bands obvious talent they didn't manage to secure a record deal. But after a long absence Faith returned in the 2000's. and they has since then released four studio albums: Salvation Lies Within (2003) (which included re-recorded versions of their 1986 single), Sorg (2005), Blessed? (2008) and Decades of Despair (2013).

NEMESIS

Nemesis was a pre-Candlemass with future Candlemass members Leif Edling, Matz Ekström and Christian Weberyd in the lineup. Leif Edling handles the vocals in Nemesis, which is a reason enough to give Nemesis a chance. Nemesis released an EP in 1984 titled The Day of Retribution on Fingerprint Records. Nemesis also recorded a demo called Tales of Creation, which would later be the title of a Candlemass album.

COUNT RAVEN

Count Raven formed in 1987 by vocalist Christian Linderson, guitarist Dan Fondelius, bassist Tommy Eriksson and drummer Christer Pettersson, the band was called originally Stormvarning. In 1989 they changed their name to Count Raven and they recorded two demo tapes the same year. Unlike most of the other Doom Metal bands from Sweden, Count Raven was a bit late to the party but due to some good work ethics they managed to release a bunch of albums in the early nineties.

They released Storm Warning in 1990, Destruction of the Void in 1991, High on Infinity in 1993 and Messiah of Confusion in 1996 before breaking up in the late nineties. Count Raven did a comeback around 2003 and the comeback album Mammons War was released in 2009.

Count Raven - Storm Warning

STILLBORN

Stillborn was a gothic/doom metal band, they released three albums: Necrospirituals (1989), The Permanent Solution (1991), State of Disconnection (1992). In 1994 Stillborn teamed up with ex-Candlemass vocalist Messiah Marcolin and they changed their name to Colossus.

VENI DOMINE

Progressive / Doom Metal band Veni Domine from Stockholm was formed by the Weinesjö brothers and the band debuted in 1992 with Fall Babylon Fall. In 1994 they put out Material Sanctuary. Despite putting out quality records for a long time, they remained somewhat anonymous, maybe due to them being hard to label because their music consisted of elements from progressive as well as power and doom metal. They broke up in 2014 after a long career together. They have released seven studio albums over the years.

Veni Domine - Fall Babylon Fall

MEMENTO MORI

Memento Mori was the result of two of the most prominent metal bands in Sweden united their forces. So if the Swedish doom metal scene ever had a super group, Memento Mori was it.

We had Mike Wead, Johan Billerhag, Marty Marteen from the Swedish thrash metal band hexenhaus and their singer was none other than Messiah Marcolin from Mercy and Candlemass fame. There was also a King Diamond connection here with guitarist Mike Wead playing both in King Diamond and Mercyful Fate and of course drummer Snowy Shaw who played on King Diamond's The Eye. 

Memento Mori put out four albums in the 90's Rhymes of Lunacy in 1993, Life Death and other Morbid Tales in 1994, La Danse Macabre in 1996 and Songs for the Apocalypse Vol IV in 1997. 

Memento Mori - Rhymes of Lunacy

MEMORY GARDEN

Memory Garden is a Swedish power/doom metal band formed in 1992. They full-length debut album Tides came out in 1996 so they were a bit late to the party. Since then they have released a handful of studio albums. Despite the fact that their sound are in that classic Swedish doom metal mold of bands like Candlemass, Mercy and Veni Domine they are still somewhat an underground band. But for all fans of Swedish Doom Metal, Memory Garden is a band to lookout for. 

Memory Garden - Mirage

OTHER NOTEABLE BANDS

In the Colonnades, Tiamat, Akilles, Savage Skülls, Mordor, Stormbringer, Glorify, Seventh Seal, Vivaldis Disciples, Abstraction, Damnations Pride, Epitaph, Forlorn, Endless Dawn, Left Hand Solution, Tragic Serenade, Sabotage & Necrorana.

Ruthless