''Ancient Dreams'' is the third album of 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 1988 and reissued in 2001 by Powerline Records with a bonus CD. The cover art of the album is a painting made by

Thomas Cole Thomas Cole was an English-born American artist and the founder of the Hudson River School art movement. Cole is widely regarded as the first significant American landscape painter. He was known for his romantic landscape and history paintin ...

, second in his series, "

The Voyage of Life ''The Voyage of Life'' is a series of four paintings created by the American artist Thomas Cole in 1840 and reproduced with minor alterations in 1842, representing an allegory of the four stages of human life. The paintings, ''Childhood'', ''Yout ...

", entitled "Youth". ''Ancient Dreams'' was the first Candlemass album to chart in the US, debuting at No. 174 on the ''Billboard'' 200 album chart. "Epistle 81" (

Märk hur vår skugga Märk hur vår skugga (Mark how our shadow) is one of the best-known of the 1790 ''Fredman's Epistles'', where it is No. 81. These were written and performed by Carl Michael Bellman, the dominant figure in the Swedish song tradition. Its subject ...

), was written by Swedish poet/musician

Carl Michael Bellman Carl Michael Bellman (; 4 February 1740 – 11 February 1795) was a Swedish songwriter, composer, musician, poet and entertainer. He is a central figure in the Swedish song tradition and remains a powerful influence in Swedish music, as well ...

(1740 – 1795). "Incarnation of Evil" is actually a reworked version of the old Nemesis track "Black Messiah." The band were not happy with the album's sound mix for which they blamed their then record label. The band felt that the album production had been rushed in order to have the LP released in time for their US tour.

Track listing

*The track "Black Sabbath Medley" is a CD bonus track and is composed of parts of songs from

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

, namely: " Symptom of the Universe", "

Sweet Leaf "Sweet Leaf" is a song by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath from their third studio album ''Master of Reality'' (1971), released on July 21, 1971. It is considered one of the band's signature songs and was included on their 1976 greatest ...

", "

Sabbath Bloody Sabbath ''Sabbath Bloody Sabbath'' is the fifth studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in November 1973. It was produced by the band and recorded at Morgan Studios in London in April to October 1973. The writing process for t ...

", " Into the Void", "Electric Funeral", " Supernaut", "

Personnel

Candlemass *

Messiah Marcolin Messiah Marcolin (born Bror Jan Alfredo Marcolin; 10 December 1967), also known as Eddie Marcolin, is a Swedish singer best known for his work in the epic doom metal band Candlemass. He is well known for his operatic voice and for his signatur ...

– vocals * Lars Johansson – lead guitar * Mats Björkman – rhythm guitar *

Leif Edling Leif Edling (born 6 August 1963) is a Swedish musician, best known as the bassist, main songwriter and one of the founding members of the epic doom metal band Candlemass. He is the only constant member of the band since its inception to the pr ...

– bass * Jan Lindh – drums Production * Rex Gisslén – mixing at Montezuma Studios, Stockholm * Peter Dahl – mastering at

Polar Studios Polar Studios was a recording studio in Stockholm, Sweden, which operated from 1978 through 2004. The studio was formed by ABBA musicians Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson and the band's manager Stig Anderson, owner of the Polar Music recording ...

, Stockholm * Wendy Kramer – artwork, graphics * Micke Lind – remastering * Micke Mårtensson – artwork, layout * Ulf Magnusson – photography

Charts

References

{{Authority control Candlemass (band) albums 1988 albums Active Records albums Enigma Records albums Metal Blade Records albums