The godfathers of epic doom are moving again. CANDLEMASS vocalist Johan Längqvist has confirmed that the Swedish institution is well into writing the follow-up to 2022's "Sweet Evil Sun", with demos already tracked for roughly half a record.
Speaking to Peter Kerr of Rock Daydream Nation, Längqvist said bassist and chief songwriter Leif Edling is once again driving the process. "I've done a couple of demos for the moment. Leif is writing on a new album for the moment, so there will be a new album," the singer said. "I haven't got a possible release date for the LP, but we're working on it, and I've been singing demos with — I don't know, maybe half of an album so far."
Asked whether the record could surface in 2027, he was cautiously optimistic. "Maybe next year. Yeah. But I'm not the boss of all the things with the studios and things like that, so I can't give you an exact date. But maybe next year. Something is coming out next year."
Längqvist also offered a look inside the CANDLEMASS writing room, where Edling's authorship remains total. "Leif is the main writer of both the music and the lyrics. And if I've been doing a demo with Leif, then I'm back the very next day to finish it all, and then sometimes he has changed the lyrics. He's the main man behind the lyrics as well… And he always has got an idea of how it should sound."
That doesn't mean the sessions are rigid. "When we're working right now, we're trying out maybe six melodies in a chorus or something. And I'm very open-minded to try a lot of things. And sometimes he said, 'Oh, Johan, we save this one. I liked what you did there.' So we have a good connection when it comes to the recording, so I can sing out, and sometimes he said, 'Oh, we can't keep this, Johan. It's too wild,' or, 'I don't like it.' But we have a good time."
The singer credits a lifetime of songwriting for his approach at the microphone. "I've got a kind of library of melodies in my head," he said. "To me, the songs are not only about the vocals when it comes to heavy metal. It's a band. The whole thing, the whole sound wall should be one. And to find your way in with the vocals is very important… All of a sudden you feel that, I'm in the song. I'm in there right now."
CANDLEMASS last released the "Black Star" EP in May 2025 via Napalm Records. Längqvist, who sang on the genre-defining 1986 debut "Epicus Doomicus Metallicus", rejoined the band in 2018 after a 32-year absence. In September 2025, the group also reunited on stage with former vocalist Messiah Marcolin at Rock Hard Festival Greece in Athens — his first appearance with CANDLEMASS in nearly two decades.
Photo credit: Linda Åkerberg