''King of the Grey Islands'' is the ninth 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 on 22 June 2007. It is the first album recorded following the departure of vocalist

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 ...

, who left the band during the pre-production phase of the album. He was replaced by

Robert Lowe Robert Lowe, 1st Viscount Sherbrooke, GCB, PC (4 December 1811 – 27 July 1892), British statesman, was a pivotal conservative spokesman who helped shape British politics in the latter half of the 19th century. He held office under William E ...

, who would stay with the band until his departure in June 2012. A

digipak Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage. Jewel case A ...

version contains two bonus studio session tracks with Robert Lowe. The album was also released as a double

vinyl LP The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and ...

with the bonus track "Edgar Grey". A tin box set edition (limited to 500 copies) was also released, which included a bonus 3" CD with two bonus tracks: "Black Dwarf" and "Demonia 6 (early version)". "Black Dwarf" is a re-recording with Lowe on vocals. These songs also appear on the "Black Dwarf" 7". Upon its release, the album was met with widespread acclaim from both critics and fans.

Track listing

All songs written by

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 ...

. # "Prologue" - 0:56 # "Emperor of the Void" - 4:29 # "Devil Seed" - 5:44 # "Of Stars and Smoke" - 5:38 # "Demonia 6" - 6:23 # "Destroyer" - 7:52 # "Man of Shadows" - 6:17 # "Clearsight" - 6:52 # "The Opal City" - 1:13 # "Embracing the Styx" - 8:19 # "Solitude" - 5:58 (bonus track on

edition) # "At the Gallows End" - 5:22 (bonus track on digipak edition)

Personnel

;Candlemass *

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

– bass, producer *Jan Lindh – drums ;Additional musicians *Carl Westholm – keyboards ;Production *Chris Laney – engineer, post-production fixes *Andreas Osslund – engineering on track 4 *

Peter Tägtgren Alf Peter Tägtgren (born 3 June 1970) is a Swedish musician, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He is the founder, main songwriter, lead vocalist, and guitarist of death metal band Hypocrisy as well as the industrial metal band Pa ...

– mixing at The Abyss in March 2007 *

Sören von Malmborg Sören von Malmborg is a Swedish mixing and mastering engineer. He has worked with artists and songwriters such as Avicii, Alan Walker, Kygo, NONONO, Seeb, Vargas & Lagola, Tove Lo, A$AP Rocky, Noonie Bao, and Dagny. Von Malmborg worked wi ...

– mastering *Tomas Arfert – cover design and illustration

Charts

References

{{Authority control Candlemass (band) albums 2007 albums Nuclear Blast albums