Candlemass

Two separate live DVDs have recently been released in Canada featuring Swedish doom metal legends Candlemass. Documents of Doom, originally released in Europe in 2003, contains a full live show shot in Fryshuset, Sweden in 1990, while the second contains documentary footage of their 2002 European reunion tour. The first disc is a good but dated performance by the band that isn’t shot as well as you’d hope, while the second is a compilation made up mostly of hand-held camera footage and is primarily in Swedish. Diehard fans of the band will want this, but those with just a curious passing fancy would be better off picking up the more recent The Curse of Candlemass set. Captured live in Stockholm in 2003 as part of a double bill with U.S. doomsters Trouble (their set is also out on DVD, but only in Europe), the show is shot much better than the 1990 concert and features an outstanding 14-song set that includes rarely played tracks such as "A Cry From The Crypt” next to classics like "Well Of Souls” and "Gallows End.” This also comes as a two-DVD set, which contains an hour-long interview with the band that goes through their whole history. Again, it is in Swedish, but if you don’t mind reading the subtitles there is a lot of great information about the band from inception to present day. (Escapi, www.escapimusic.com)