Best Candlemass Singer?

akira · Post by **akira** » Sat Oct 15, 2011 4:50 pm

Split from "Candlemass Chronicles" thread./Mod

The_Elite wrote: Messiah is the worst Candlemass singer- I wish those albums would get rerecorded with someone else better, because obviously the songs are killer.

Messiah is great. He's Candlemass' trademark. His unique voice gave additional epic feeling to already awesome songs. Messiah fits perfectly to epic metal band.Majestic.
I don't understand why they brought Lowe in the band, he's terrible singer.

ION BRITTON · Post by **ION BRITTON** » Sat Oct 15, 2011 5:41 pm

Lowe's perfomance on the first Solitude Aeturnus albums crushes anything Marcolin ever did.

akira · Post by **akira** » Sat Oct 15, 2011 7:03 pm

ION BRITTON wrote:Lowe's perfomance on the first Solitude Aeturnus albums crushes anything Marcolin ever did.

I can't listen S. Aeternus cause I don't like his vocal. Obviously we have different tastes in epic metal singing.

rumblefist · Post by **rumblefist** » Sat Oct 15, 2011 9:17 pm

I like Lowe a lot. Has a unique voice but he is limited. He could never sing (not even in his best dreams) "At The Gallows End" like Marcolin did.

mordred · Post by **mordred** » Sat Oct 15, 2011 9:20 pm

Guys...

ION BRITTON · Post by **ION BRITTON** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 2:54 am

Yeah, I'd like to hear Messiah singing Mirror of sorrow and Seeds of the desolate...good laughs guaranteed.

Avenger · Post by **Avenger** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 4:09 am

Is this really what the thread turned into?

ION BRITTON · Post by **ION BRITTON** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 9:43 am

I'm sorry it has gone this way, I can understand someone prefering Marcolin and Candlemass but Lowe a terrible singer he ain't by any stretch of the imagination.

mordred · Post by **mordred** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 9:53 am

Please stop.

I had it with this subject four years ago.

Or at least split to a "which Candlemass singer sucks and which rules" thread.

Stormspell · Post by **Stormspell** » Sun Oct 16, 2011 11:26 pm

mordred wrote:Or at least split to a "which Candlemass singer sucks and which rules" thread.

Cool sub-topic! Assuming this will get split I'll proceed with it.
For me they go like this:

Messiah > Vikstrom > Langquist > Lowe

I'm not sure whether to put Flodkvist in front of after Lowe as I'm not very familiar with 1998/1999 albums.

I also rate them not for their singing abilities per se, but how they fit in Candlemass. In that regard Messiah is the trademark voice, regardless of the annoying vibrato singing and all other flaws.

mordred · Post by **mordred** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 8:39 am

Right, here I can have my say. And I be the undisputed expert and my words be the law ... ahem ...

Anyway:

Johan Langquist (Epicus): His performance on the album is as titanic and monolithic as the material itself. It is the essence of power, purity, beauty and perfection. Seeing/hearing him perform the Epicus material live with Candlemass twice has been a dream come true. However, his audition demos for Chapter VI and King of the Grey Islands shows in my opinion why he shouldn't be in the band permanently. If they would do an album together "musical differences" would probably be given a new meaning. Better not tarnish the legacy that is Epicus.

Messiah Marcolin (Nightfall, Ancient Dreams, Tales of Creation, Live, self titled): The classic voice of course. Tremendous vocal power and with a "I'll conquer the world and make kings bow before me" vocal style that'll lead you to believe his range is greater than it is. Some say he's just dead pan delivery and no emotion, I don't quite agree. "At the Gallows End", that's emotion for me.

Thomas Vikström (Chapter VI): He got so much unfair criticism it's ridiculous, especially in Sweden. He was labelled an "AOR singer" unsuitable for Candlemass and it all boiled down to that he was the singer of Talk of the Town that had a big hit back in 1988. In truth, he's an extremely versatile singer that was perfect for replacing Messiah. His performance on Chapter VI, despite the weak album production and the more up tempo oriented material, should speak for itself. "Where the Runes Still Speak" gives me goosebumps every time. Live bootlegs with the Chapter VI lineup is very rare but very precious to me. He could sing anything Messiah ever sung and then some (in fact he hit notes that were on the albums that Messiah never sung live, like the highest notes in Well of Souls). Some of his best numbers were Crystal Ball and Dark Are the Veils of Death. Here is a live version of Crystal Ball in 1993: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns8i88VnMHM

Björn Flodkvist (Dactylis Glomerata, From the 13th Sun): Surely can't compete with the others in terms of range or technique and is an entirely different deal, as are the albums he appears on. It was different and originally not meant to be Candlemass. His Ozzy like delivery was a great casting for From the 13th Sun, which is a fine album in its own right but I have a hard time thinking about it as Candlemass.

Robert Lowe (King of the Grey Islands, Death Magic Doom): Was a favorite singer of mine since long before he joined Candlemass. His performance on the first two Solitude Aeturnus albums is immortal. His voice and vocal style has changed quite a bit since then and he is very much like Dio these days but still with more feel than technique. I like hos vocals on every single album he ever sung on and as for Candlemass he really nailed it with Death Magic Doom. However he has severely let Candlemass down in the live situation by failing to learn lyrics and even when to enter verses and such. Everybody just to say Candlemass were better live than in the studio, nobody would say that anymore.

In conclusion, a ranking. This is only based on their performances on albums and only in Candlemass:

Marcolin > Langquist > Vikström > Lowe > Flodkvist

GJ · Post by GJ » Mon Oct 17, 2011 9:00 am

Like 'em all!

ION BRITTON · Post by **ION BRITTON** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 9:39 am

I like Lowe the most, not because of his work in Candlemass though. Such a unique vocal style. Johan Langquist is my second favorite one and Epicus is also my favorite Candlemass album. However I feel a bit weird using the word favorite for this band since the only albums I really like are the first two (with Epicus being miles ahead though). Have tried to listen to the other stuff so many times in my life but I just can't get into any of them. Actually, I gave Ancient Dreams one more chance a couple of months ago, it still does nothing to me. I don't think I've heard Björn Flodkvist at all, I might have heard Dactylis but I can't remember it, it was that memorable as an album.

rumblefist · Post by **rumblefist** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 9:43 am

I'm a big fan of Solitude Aeturnus music/career and for what they still represent in TX scene. But i stay true to FACTS: I can't imagine what Marcolin could ever did if he was in Solitude Aeturnus instead of Lowe. I simply can't.
But facts are facts:
Lowe's work in Candlemass, specially performing the old classics it's just a grey shadow of what it was, specially in the more epic slower parts.
I don't like to say bad things on great musicians - it's just my opinion that i prefer by far both Lanqvist/Marcolin. If Heavy Metal still exists in 20 more years from now, those early works will be still huge classics while what Candlemass + Lowe did will fall into oblivion and won't reach that status.

Black Axe · Post by **Black Axe** » Mon Oct 17, 2011 5:51 pm

My liking of any of the Candlemass albums isn't due to the singer. They all do a great job as far as I'm concerned. The albums all suit the vocalist in question.