CANDLEMASS Announces March 2023 U.S. West Coast Tour

Legendary Swedish doom metallers CANDLEMASS have announced their first U.S. dates of 2023. The band will embark on a West Coast run in March in support of its latest album, "Sweet Evil Sun", which came out in November via Napalm Records. The week-long trek will kick off on March 10 in Seattle, Washington and conclude on March 17 in San Diego, California.

Tour dates:

March 10 - Seattle, WA @ Substation
March 11 - Portland, OR @ Star Theater
March 14 - San Francisco, CA @ DNA
March 16 - Los Angeles, CA @ 1720
March 17 - San Diego, CA @ Brick By Brick

In the works for 18 months, "Sweet Evil Sun" sees CANDLEMASS bringing back all the grandness of the band's early years, exploring themes of ambition and strife, hope and failure. Opening track "Wizard Of The Vortex" instantly casts a spell with a riff so powerful, the listener is immediately ensnared. The dark, classic rock-tinged Nordic metal anthem "Scandinavian Gods" reveals a perfect musical interaction between slow and heavy drums, droning guitars and majestic vocals as they convey mysterious tales of Scandinavian mythology to the next generation of doom lovers. Jennie-Ann Smith (AVATARIUM) lends her beautiful voice to the theatrical, grim "When Death Sighs", creating a shimmering, intermingled chorus duet eventually backed by rising organs and a marching rhythm. The haunting atmosphere is highlighted by an amazing guitar solo that reads like a story as it bends and descends, marking the sign of death on the listener's door. It comes as no surprise that, alongside the band, renowned producer Marcus Jidell captured the band's massive, smoky guitar tones, powerful drums and larger-than-life vocals, offering a truly unique, high quality sonic experience. The artwork for "Sweet Evil Sun" was illustrated with the skilled hand of Erik Rovanperä, the architect behind CANDLEMASS's visual style since "Psalms For The Dead" (2012).

Recorded at NOX studio in Stockholm, Sweden, "Sweet Evil Sun" impressively showcases that, after almost 40 years in the game, the creativity of these Swedish doom masters sees no bounds. Through the power of wall-shaking riffs, incredible vocal performances and the blood and spirit of classic heavy metal, "Sweet Evil Sun" shines as a masterpiece of impending legend that truly honors the epic doom metal cult of CANDLEMASS.

CANDLEMASS founder and bassist Leif Edling stated about the new album: "'Sweet Evil Sun' is about hope, striving, adoration and failure. It's about all the personal battles that you have, but also the never-ending decay of humanity.

"The record took over a year to make and there's not a bad track on it! We had a fantastic time recording it and are really looking forward to the release. It's doom, it's metal! It is the essence of CANDLEMASS put into one album."

As the godfathers of epic doom metal, CANDLEMASS defined the genre with releases such as "Epicus Doomicus Metallicus" (1986) and "Nightfall" (1987). Through their evil riffs, crushing rhythmic attack and dramatic vocals, they changed the landscape of metal worldwide. Led by Edling, CANDLEMASS reunited with Johan Längqvist in 2018, 32 years after the singer performed on "Epicus Doomicus Metallicus".

"Sweet Evil Sun" is the follow-up to CANDLEMASS's twelfth studio album, "The Door To Doom", which was released in February 2019 via Napalm Records. "The Door To Doom" was CANDLEMASS's first full-length album since the aforementioned "Psalms For The Dead", which featured singer Robert Lowe, who left the band just days before its release. He was replaced by Mats Levén, who fronted the band until Längqvist rejoined in late 2018.

Längqvist originally exited CANDLEMASS after "Epicus Doomicus Metallicus" and was replaced by Messiah Marcolin.

Photo credit: Linda Akerberg