Leif Edling: Early next year I would say. We are pretty busy this summer and we're going to tour in Europe in the fall. We go to Australia in November in we have some gigs in December as well. We are talking about going to America, so hopefully somebody will give us an offer to come over and put a package together with Candlemass and a couple of other bands. You need somebody to give you an invitation to come. If people in America like the album, if it gets good reviews and people buy the record, I'm pretty sure someone will make us an offer
With each new album does it become more difficult to put together a set list for your tours?
Yes. A 90 minute set isn't too hard to arrange, but some festivals we play for an hour or 45 minutes. That is a little more difficult to plan. There is so much stuff you have to take out of the set.
When you are doing a regular tour, does your set change from night to night?
We have always played different sets every night. On our last tour in 2005, we almost changed things too much, I think. There was a lot of changes every night. A different band member chose the set list each night. That was a little too much, so I'm sure we will have a base this time and we will switch around a few songs in the set. That way if people go to see two gigs in one country, they won't see the same set.
You have toured all over the world. Is there any place you have not played that you would still like to get to?
When we reunited, the goal for Candlemass was South America, Australia and Japan. We went to South America in 2006 end we are going to Australia in November. So now Japan is the only one left, but we have somebody working on it. We will go there pretty soon, hopefully.
You recently celebrated your 20th anniversary as a band with a big party. How was that?
It was a great evening. We had a whole bunch of singers on stage and did almost the entire Epicus Doomicus album with the original singer. We had Tony Martin on stage, Mikael from Opeth. We did some stuff from the Chapter VI album that we had not done in a long time. A lot of people came from all over the world. It was a blast.
What do you think is the most underrated Candlemass album?
That is a difficult question. I think all of the Candlemass albums have been received pretty well and had pretty good reviews. The only Candlemass album that I think of is From the 13th Sun (1999). It received great reviews, but Music for Nations didn't do much with it. It only sold 15 to 20,000 copies and I think it could have done a bit more if they could have put more into it. Some people talk about it, but most people haven't even heard it. That's maybe the most underrated Candlemass album.
What are the biggest changes you've seen in the music industry?
Technology. People can sit at home and record on their own computers. You have some great stuff that you can put into your computer and record by yourself and make great demos. I think it was quite a big change from using the 2 inch tapes to the computer programs like Pro Tools. That was quite an innovation. You can record for so much less nowadays.
Do you think there is less loyalty and patience from record labels these days?
Yes. The labels nowadays don't have the finances anymore. People don't buy records as much anymore. Before, the labels had more money and could invest in more bands and could be a little bit more patient with bands. But now when people sit at home and download, in the end it's the artist that gets hurt. The artist gets less money and it's harder for him to do what he wants to do and release records. The record company can’t promote as much and do as much marketing and be behind the artist as much. It really hurts both the artist and the record company.
Is there anything else you would like to mention?
I just hope that people will give the album a chance and listen to the album even if it is not Messiah on it. Listen to the album with open ears and an open mind. Buy the album, and hopefully we can come over to the United States and play. That is what we want to do.
