An interview with Leif Edling – frontman and founder of the Candlemass.
You described the title track of the "Black Star" EP (2025) as a composition that "starts like Black Sabbath and ends like Rainbow." How did you manage to blend these two monumental yet vastly different energies into a single doom metal track?
Think I did this a couple of times in Avatarium as well. The track "Moonhorse" for example. It’s a pretty efficient way of building a song I think. Worked really well for "Moonhorse" and also for "Black Star". Combinded energies that builds a song and makes it stronger.
The lyrics to "Black Star" touch upon the theme of existential struggle. After 40 years of writing about darkness, is it easier to find new metaphors for human suffering? Or is it quite the opposite—does it become significantly harder?
It has always been rather easy for me to find subjects for lyrics. With "Black Star" I just went to myself. I was looking out of the window and watched the stars and there it was. Didn’t took much time to finish it lyrically. I like that song, and I’m very happy that the EP got some good reviews as well.
There is no shortage of online speculation that a potential upcoming Candlemass album could be the last in your discography. Is the band discussing retirement? Or, as long as your health permits, does the word "end" simply not exist in your vocabulary?
Yeah, I get alot of questions about retirement (laugh). And since we take a year at the time, a new album could really be the last thing we do. Plus alot of live gigging of course. But, to tell you the truth. We have no plans to pack it up. We think it would be fantastic to make another record, and go out and tour the heck out of it! We love our live shows! After this 40:th anniversary it should be time for an album. To look forward instead of back. To continue to bring out cool records and not just go retro. We still have some mileage left in us!
I bring this up because many believe that true doom metal is best created when one is young and angry. So, how does one’s perspective on darkness, transience, and death shift when viewed through the lens of such extensive stage experience like yours?
Ask Black Sabbath (laugh)! Well I think young people do create cool doom. Lot’s of energy and souls shaking epic powerful songs. But with age comes lessons in life. I think that older people write better songs. You need some time/suffering to really grasp the concept of doom. It’s not about anger or volume or distorsion. It’s about depth. Plain and simple.
Your 40th-anniversary tour included a show at the Progresja club in Warsaw. When putting together the setlist for this tour, were you guided solely by nostalgia, or did you also want to demonstrate that the band is perfectly at home in the present day?
With this 40:th anniversary we play only old stuff. Nothing new/newer. We’ve taken a decision to go full retro these jubilee years. And the fans love it! The shows are very successful and fun which tells us that it was the right decision. People sing along to the classics, bang their heads, go crazy! Both young and old come to the shows, whole families – 2 or even three generations – go nuts to "Bewitched", "Demons Gate" or "Solitude"! Up there on stage I feel very blessed.
That brings me to this point: in your opinion, does modern digital production kill the authenticity and sonic "grit" that were so crucial to releases from the 80s? How do you protect your work from today’s rather sterile aesthetic?
Good Question. I love the old ways of doing it. The digitial fomat kills some of the warmth in the recordings that your hear on your older old school records. I don’t know how right now how to record the next album. If we should do it on 2 inch tapes the old way or go digital as usual? How no idea. Some people recommend one thing, others say the opposit. We’ll see...were not there yet. I would love to make one last really great album though.
I imagine many musicians have a song in their repertoire that they are reluctant to play live but feel compelled to perform because the fans demand it. So, which Candlemass classic do you like the least, and why?
Maybe "Black Stone Wielder"? Not because it’s bad. Quite the opposit. It’s a wonderful track, but difficult to play. For some reason we always fuck up during that song live. So we just stopped doing it for many years. Now we’ve brought it back into the set on public demand hehe...let’s see how it goes. We played it Ok in Krete last weekend. So maybe it will stay in the set. We’ll see...
They say that playing and listening to heavy music acts as a form of catharsis. Has creating doom metal all these years shielded you from your own inner demons?
Not really. Doesn’t matter if you listen to pop, jazz, soul or doom. I’m sure you’ll never get rid of your inner demons. We all have’em. You can try to drown them in booze, but the bastards know how to swim! They will always be there, teasing and mocking you. Telling you that you suck. Making you feel like shit. Best you can do is try not to listen to them that much. Not easy...
Now, imagine that doom metal is a religion and you are the authors of its Holy Book. What sin in the musical world would you condemn?
Happiness..?
And finally—if your instruments could speak, what would be their biggest grievance against Candlemass after all these years in the studio and on stage?
Maybe that I should play more on the D and G strings? hahahaha! I almost nearly use only the A and E strings. Have done so for the past 40 years. Works fine for me. I’m the E-string King!
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