Warning!!! The following review contains disturbing amounts of CANDLEMASS worship and overt displays of fawning and flattery. May also contain gratuitous brown-nosing, bootlicking, with a possible hint of sniveling later on.

The first time I heard CANDLEMASS must have been way back in 1988 when I first saw their video "Mirror Mirror" on a long since cancelled UK TV show called "Power Hour." At the time everyone else seemed to be either playing Thrash or Hair Metal/Glam Rock. CANDLEMASS were doing their own thing regardless of the trends at the time and are still a band who have, admirably, stuck to their original vision over all these years. I was instantly hooked after the first time I heard them and have been a huge fan since.

What we have here is the re-issue of the 2005 self titled album, an album that was much anticipated by their fan-base as it was the reunion of what many fans consider to be the classic CANDLEMASS line-up with Messiah Marcolin rejoining the band on vocals. Unfortunately due to personal differences the reunion was short lived and this was the only album they did before Messiah and the band again went their separate ways. So was this album worth the wait after the last studio album they did together "Tales of Creation?" Is it any good? The answer is a resounding yes. It's a great album but probably the weakest of the Messiah Marcolin albums in my opinion. It's still not quite up there with the likes of "Nightfall" but then again not many albums are.

CANDLEMASS hit the ground running with the first track "Black Dwarf." Quite a fast song by the bands standards but instantly recognizable as CANDLEMASS of old. Messiah Marcolin is on fine form and everything seems right with the world. After Messiah left the band they went through a slight stylistic change and were a bit more experimental on albums such as "Dactylis Glomerata" and "From the 13th Sun." This album is very much in the vein of the earlier Messiah era albums.

The song "Witches" is the highlight of the album for me. The main riff is an absolute monster and impossible to listen to without nodding your head along to it. When Messiah sings "Drunk and misled, face down in the mindless gutter" the guitar riff playing underneath is classic CANDLEMASS and wouldn't have been out of place on the earlier albums. "Seven Silver Keys" and "Assassin of the Light" are also classic doom anthems. There's not a bad track on the album.

If you're reading this review and you're new to CANDLEMASS then I'd suggest buying the first 4 albums before this one. This is a great album and deserves 10/10, but those other albums, as SPINAL TAP, would say go up to eleven. They are highly recommended for anyone who is even remotely interested in metal.

"Come with me, walk with me, The voice of doom and new adventures."