CANDLEMASS – Doomed For Live – Reunion 2002

It’s not at all cool when you slay a band for releasing a DVD and then a CD from the same show. And next up, that’s exactly what one of your favorite bands, Candlemass, does next. Hm, how do I explain not butchering this? Well, it makes more sense to release the live CD, then the DVD later, as the DVD of course has more to offer. When you give away everything first, then release just half of it later, it stinks. If you have already invested in the live CD, you find yourself only paying for the picture when purchasing the DVD. It’s up to you if can wait for the DVD, I know I can not…

Candlemass live 2002 was, as stated somewhere else on these pages, the best thing since the invention of steakhouses. Now that might be an insider joke, but their sole excuse to do this reunion was simply to be able to eat at all these different steakhouses around Europe. These guys really need to blast out on a US tour, by the way, so they can eat really good throughout the continent of overweight. (All this is of course not to be taken too seriously, ok?) What I am saying here, is that Candlemass is simply one of the best live bands out there, and on a bad night, they still wipe the floor with most others in this business. And that is exactly what you will hear on Doomed For Live – Reunion 2002. You will hear what possibly was the band’s weakest headline show in 2002, a good show though, and again; much better than most other shows you will ever see. (How can I state this? Well, I saw most of them, even this one.)

Anyhow, Messiah’s voice doesn’t sound like it is supposed to. He sounds like he is in a box, and though the balance between him and the instruments, and the instruments alone, is pretty well mixed, I can’t help thinking that this CD could have been even better. But you see, this was the only show recorded for a live album, and a DVD later on. It is rawer than Blackie Lawless’ meals from 1984, it’s more authentic than the obvious fact that a man in the oval office is crazy, and it’s of course heavier than a freight train. The set is nothing but awesome, and the medley from “Ancient Dreams”, played live for the second time only, is a real treat for any doom fanatic. The crowd is heavily into it (still, Candlemass should have brought their recording gear to Greece, of course), and as always; extraordinaire rhythm guitarist Mappe Bjorkman is the one delivering the crunchiness and keeping it all tight.

If you consider the mentioned facts, among those that this CD is “very fucking live”, like it says on the cover, and you want to find out what all this craziness and last year’s most successful and by all means best comeback was about, this is an ok start if you don’t have a DVD-player yet. If you do, I recommend you to pick up the DVD “Documents Of Doom” first, then come back for this when you can not get enough of this great band. I am proud to be doomed for life…