''Dactylis Glomerata'' is the sixth studio album by Swedish

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

band Candlemass, released in 1998. This was their first album released since their split in 1994. The album was originally destined to be the second release by Candlemass main songwriter Leif Edling's side-project

Abstrakt Algebra Abstrakt Algebra was a Swedish experimental metal band with influences from power metal and doom metal. It was founded by bassist Leif Edling in 1994, shortly after his main project Candlemass split up. They made one album, but Edling had alre ...

but, under request from the record label Music for Nations, it was converted in a Candlemass album. There were many musicians involved in the long process of recording, including members of the Abstrakt Algebra's line-up, guitarist Michael Amott of

Arch Enemy Arch Enemy is a Swedish melodic death metal band, originally a supergroup from Halmstad, formed in 1995. Its members were in bands such as Carcass, Armageddon, Carnage, Mercyful Fate, Spiritual Beggars, The Agonist, Nevermore, and Eucharis ...

and

Carcass Carcass or Carcase (both pronounced ) may refer to: *Dressed carcass, the body of a livestock animal ready for butchery, after removal of skin, visceral organs, head, feet etc. *Carrion, the decaying dead body of an animal or human being *The str ...

fame and new singer Björn Flodkvist. The music on the album lacks much of the epic doom sound of previous works and embraces a more experimental and progressive approach, with elements of

stoner rock Stoner rock, also known as stoner metal or stoner doom, is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of doom metal with psychedelic rock and acid rock. The genre emerged during the early 1990s and was pioneered foremost by Kyuss and Sleep ...

and

space rock Space rock is a music genre characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound. It may feature distorted and reverberation-laden guitars, minimal drummin ...

. In 2006, it was reissued by GMR Music as a 2 CD edition. The second disc contains the previously unreleased album ''Abstrakt Algebra II'', from which this album's tracks derived.

Background

Candlemass disbanded in 1994, after the release of the EP ''Sjunger Sigge Furst''. Main songwriter and bassist Leif Edling formed a new band called

with singer

Mats Levén Mats Leven is a Swedish singer. Some of his most notable collaborations have been with guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen, symphonic metallers Therion and doom metallers Candlemass. In 2011, due to family issues on the part of Firewind's lead singer A ...

, drummer Jejo Perkovic, guitarists

Mike Wead Mike Wead (born Mickael Vikström on 6 April 1967), is a Swedish guitarist who lives in Stockholm. Wead contributed to heavy metal bands such as ''Hexenhaus'', Memento Mori, Abstrakt Algebra, The Haunted, Edge of Sanity, Candlemass, The Pr ...

and Simon Johansson. Abstrakt Algebra released their eponymous debut album of

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a ...

and

progressive metal Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified guitar-driven sound of the former with the more experimental, cerebral ...

in 1995. The album received some good reviews but was not a commercial success.

Composition and recording

Edling composed music for a second more progressive Abstrakt Algebra album and started recording it with a different line-up, which included keyboard player Carl Westholm and guitarist Patrik Instedt replacing Wead and Johansson, at

Sunlight Studio Sunlight Studios is a recording studio in Stockholm, Sweden which is run by Tomas Skogsberg. It has been a popular choice for Swedish death metal bands such as Dismember, At The Gates, Entombed, Grave, Katatonia and Tiamat. Records 1989 *Trebli ...

, Stockholm, Sweden in the Autumn of 1996. Soon problems emerged with the recording studio and the producer and Edling's finances dried up. Music for Nations, the British label which had issued the previous Candlemass albums, offered Edling to finance further recordings in a different studio if the album was released as a work by Candlemass. Edling, who was on the edge of bankruptcy and a mental breakdown, agreed to this condition and rearranged the songs to adapt them to the heavier

sound of Candlemass. He also composed the new songs "I Still See the Black", "Molotov" and "Karthago" for the album. His old bandmates declined Edlin's request for collaboration, so he recruited Swedish guitarist Michael Amott, renowned for his work with

, Spiritual Beggars and

and a declared Candlemass fan, to beef up the guitar sound on the tracks. Meanwhile, Levén had joined

Yngwie Malmsteen Yngwie Johan Malmsteen ( ; born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck, 30 June 1963) is a Swedish guitarist. He first became known in the 1980s for his neoclassical playing style in heavy metal, and has released 22 studio albums in a career spanning ov ...

's band and Björn Flodkvist, who Edlin had met while working at Sveriges Radio P3 and coming from the Swedish

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...

band Gone, was selected as singer. A band composed by Edling, Amott, Flodkvist, Instedt, Perkovic and Westholm re-recorded during a weekend in May 1997 the basic tracks for the old Abstrakt Algebra songs and for the new compositions "I Still See the Black", "Karthago" and "Wiz" (originally called "Blue Wizard") with the help of session musicians at

Swedish Broadcasting Corporation Sveriges Radio AB (, "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcaster. Sveriges Radio is a public limited company, owned by an independent foundation, previously funded through a licensing fee, the level of which i ...

Studio 4 in Stockholm, Sweden. Those three days of recording were Amott's only involvement with Candlemass. Overdubs were added by several other musicians at two other studios of the same city. The final mix, performed by Edling and engineer Uffe Östling, joined the new recordings and more overdubs until after September 1997.

Release

The album took about 18 months to be completed and was released on 13 April 1998 by Music for Nations. The Japanese edition featured the bonus tracks "Container" and "Thirst". The title comes from the plant '' Dactylis glomerata'', the flower of which Edling is allergic to. ''Dactylis Glomerata'' was reissued in 2006 in a 2 CD edition by the Swedish label GMR Music and by

Peaceville Records Peaceville Records is a British independent heavy metal record label. The label was founded by Paul "Hammy" Halmshaw (of the bands Instigators and Civilised Society) in Dewsbury, England in 1987, who was also a one-time drummer of Sore Throa ...

in 2008. The second disc contains the Abstrakt Algebra sessions recorded by the band in 1996 and extensive liner notes by Edling.

Reception

''Dactylis Glomerata'' received positive reviews, but was a commercial failure. Canadian journalist

Martin Popoff Martin Popoff (born April 28, 1963) is a Canadian music journalist, critic and author. He is mainly known for writing about the genre of heavy metal music. The senior editor and co-founder of ''Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'', he has additionall ...

praised the "trippy, not cheesy" production and Björn Flodkvist's vocals, considering the album "closer to

than self-serious doom". ''

Rock Hard "Rock Hard" is a single by the Beastie Boys, released by Def Jam Records on 12" in 1984. The track contains samples from the AC/DC song "Back in Black", which was used without obtaining legal permission, causing the record to be withdrawn. ...

'' reviewer remarked how different the sound of ''Dactylis Glomerata'' is in comparison with the "classic" first four Candlemass albums, lacking "their anthemic, epic arrangements", "the theatrical element, which has always characterized the vocals of Messiah" (Marcolin), and featuring elements of

in several tracks like the "monumental 'Dustflow'".

Track listing

Personnel

;Candlemass * Björn Flodkvist – vocals * Leif Edling – bass, producer, mixing * Michael Amott – guitar * Carl Westholm – keyboards * Jejo Perkovic – drums ;Additional musicians * Ian Haugland – drums on "Wiz" and "I Still See the Black" *Ulf Edelönn – guitar on "I Still See the Black" *Patrik Instedt – guitar on "Dustflow", "Abstrakt Sun" and "Lidocain God" *Måns P. Månsson – Korg synthesizer and

theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone/etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named afte ...

on "Dustflow" *Jan Hellman – distorted electric upright bass on "Karthago" *Adam Axelsson – claypot and Hare Krishna stuff on "Apathy" ;Abstrakt Algebra (on disc 2) *

– vocals * Leif Edling – bass * Patrik Instedt – guitar * Carl Westholm – keyboards * Jejo Perkovic – drums ;Additional musicians (on disc 2) *Sara Berg – female voice on "Bug Queen" *Måns P. Månsson – Korg synthesizer and

on "Dustflow" *Jörgen Cremonese – guitar overdubs on "Dustflow" and "Abstrakt Sun" ;Production *Uffe Östling – engineer, mixing *Björn Wallmark, Rex Gisslén – overdubs engineers *Jan Hellman – digital editing and overdubs *Sören Elonsson – remastering

References

{{Authority control 1998 albums Candlemass (band) albums Music for Nations albums