''Candyland'' is the tenth studio album by

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

gothic metal Gothic metal (or goth metal) is a fusion genre combining the aggression of heavy metal with the dark atmospheres of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy met ...

band

Theatres des Vampires Theatres des Vampires is an Italian gothic metal band, mostly noted for the predominant theme of vampirism within their lyrics. The band's early material was credited as melodic black metal or symphonic black metal, but the group completely aba ...

, released through

Scarlet Records Scarlet Records is an Italian independent record label based in Milan. It is most notable for featuring two side projects from Soilwork front-man Björn "Speed" Strid, as well as bands like Agent Steel, Royal Hunt, Skyclad, Eldritch, Hatespher ...

on 14 October 2016. Initially announced on 7 July 2016, it is their first studio album in 5 years since ''

Moonlight Waltz Theatres des Vampires is an Italian gothic metal band, mostly noted for the predominant theme of vampirism within their lyrics. The band's early material was credited as melodic black metal or symphonic black metal, but the group completely a ...

'', and also their first release with guitarist Giorgio Ferrante, who replaced Stephan Benfante early in 2016. It is noticeably more guitar-driven than the band's previous releases with

Sonya Scarlet Theatres des Vampires is an Italian gothic metal band, mostly noted for the predominant theme of vampirism within their lyrics. The band's early material was credited as melodic black metal or symphonic black metal, but the group completely a ...

on vocals, and its lyrics focus less on the

vampiric A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

and

occult The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

themes the band is famous for. A

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for the track "Morgana Effect" was uploaded to the band's official

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channel on 29 September 2016. The album counts with guest appearances by

Moonspell Moonspell is a Portuguese gothic metal band formed in 1992. The group released their first EP, ''Under the Moonspell'', in 1994 and followed up with their debut album, '' Wolfheart'', a year later. They quickly became the most recognizable meta ...

vocalist

Fernando Ribeiro Moonspell is a Portuguese gothic metal band formed in 1992. The group released their first EP, ''Under the Moonspell'', in 1994 and followed up with their debut album, ''Wolfheart'', a year later. They quickly became the most recognizable metal ...

and J.T.R. Sickert frontman Tiziano Panini (a.k.a. Billy T. Cooper), Scarlet's husband.

Track listing

Critical reception

The album has received mostly positive reviews since its release. Writing for ''New Noise Magazine'', Grim Lord gave it 3 out of 5 stars, comparing its sonority favorably to

Lacuna Coil Lacuna Coil is an Italian gothic metal band from Milan. Since their formation in 1994, the group has had two name changes, being previously known as Sleep of Right and Ethereal, and they have recorded nine studio albums, two extended plays, two ...

Theatre of Tragedy Theatre of Tragedy was a Norwegian band from Stavanger, active between 1993 and 2010. They are best known for their earlier albums, which influenced the gothic metal genre. History Formation (1993) Theatre of Tragedy was founded on 2 October 19 ...

, The Dreamside and "the gothic metal/rock of isyounger days". However, he also stated that " edidn't find Scarlet's vocal approach to be to istaste in most songs" ("Pierrot Lunaire" excepted, which he thought of as "one of the disc's main standouts"), and commented on the lack of "

Lilith Lilith ( ; he, Wiktionary:לילית, לִילִית, Līlīṯ) is a female figure in Mesopotamian Mythology, Mesopotamian and Jewish mythology, Judaic mythology, alternatively the first wife of Adam and supposedly the primordial she-demon. ...

Lucifer Lucifer is one of various figures in folklore associated with the planet Venus. The entity's name was subsequently absorbed into Christianity as a name for the devil. Modern scholarship generally translates the term in the relevant Bible passage ...

-style lyrics" as being "a kind of a drag". Matt Coe of ''Eternal Terror'' webzine rated the album with a 4 out of 6, and stated that "''Candyland'' has multi-level appeal and should satisfy the long-timers while hopefully attain some new followers along the way".ETERNAL TERROR - THEATRES DES VAMPIRES - Candyland
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Personnel

– vocals * Zimon Lijoi – bass guitar * Gabriel Valerio – drums * Giorgio Ferrante – guitar *

– vocals (track 10) * Billy T. Cooper (Tiziano Panini) – vocals (track 3) * Francesco Sosto – keyboards, arrangements (track 7) * Luca Bellanova – keyboards, arrangements (track 11) * Elisa Pezzuto – backing vocals * Christian Ice – production, mixing, mastering * Daniele Pompei, Luca Cavallari – photography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Candyland (Album) 2016 albums Theatres des Vampires albums Scarlet Records albums