Candlemass is a Swedish doom metal band established in Stockholm in 1984 by bassist, songwriter and bandleader Leif Edling, and drummer Matz Ekström. The band had a defining influence on doom metal, and the genre itself is named after their debut album Epicus Doomicus Metallicus. After releasing five full-length albums and touring extensively throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Candlemass disbanded in 1994, but reunited three years later. After breaking up again in 2002, Candlemass reformed in 2004 and have continued to record and perform since then.

After the breakup of his first band Nemesis, bassist Leif Edling started his own band under the name Candlemass with vocalist Johan Längqvist, drummer Matz Ekström, guitarist Mats "Mappe" Bjorkman and Klas Bergwall. Their first release, Epicus Doomicus Metallicus (1986), immediately secured their standing, positioning the band within metal circles, setting a milestone in the doom metal scene. Following the band's debut album Längqvist was replaced by Messiah Marcolin. By the time the band entered the studio to record their second effort, Nightfall, in 1987, Bergwall and Ekström had left the band. Jan Lindh joined the band on drums, and Lars Johansson joined the band on guitars following the completion of the album.

Candlemass's next two albums were Ancient Dreams (1988) and Tales of Creation (1989). In 1990, the band released a live album Live. Shortly afterward, a dispute between the band members resulted in Messiah Marcolin's departure.

After Marcolin left, Candlemass recruited vocalist Thomas Vikström and recorded Chapter VI (1992). The band then toured in support of that album. By 1994, Candlemass had called it quits, partly because Chapter VI was unsuccessful and partially because Edling had formed another project under the name of Abstrakt Algebra. With Abstrakt Algebra not doing well, Leif suddenly recruited a new line-up under the name of Candlemass and recorded the album Dactylis Glomerata,[citation needed] which was a combination of songs for a new Abstrakt Algebra CD and some new material.[citation needed] A year later the album From the 13th Sun was released.

In 2002, the members of a past Candlemass line-up reunited. They performed some well-received live shows[citation needed] and released another live album. Other albums released by the reformed band were remastered versions of Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, Nightfall, Ancient Dreams, and Tales of Creation. A DVD called Documents of Doom was released as well. The band was working on a new album and recorded some new songs while searching for a record label when differences arose again, resulting in Candlemass disbanding a second time. In the meantime, Leif Edling started a new project, Krux, with former Abstrakt Algebra singer Mats Levén and two members of Entombed. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.