Chad Bowar: The recording process on your end for Death Magic Doom was a lot different than for your first CD with the band, King Of The Grey Islands.
Robert Lowe: Totally. The last time was done via FTP. This time I actually got to go to Sweden to do it.
You had never even seen them in person before you recorded the vocals for the last album, right?
On the first album I got the gig, and then because of time constraints I had to knock it out that week. It wasn’t until March when I went over for the photo session that I actually met the guys for the first time.
Everything must have worked out as far as chemistry and getting along on tour, because you’re back for this album!
It did. It was complete luck. I could have gone over there and we could have hated each other. But we get along really well. These guys couldn’t be happier having got rid of somebody else who made life miserable. I’m just a regular old joe from Texas who likes to drink beer and is easygoing.
Is the working environment with Candlemass more businesslike than it is with Soliltude Aeturnus?
Not at all. I thought I could drink! We were on a tour bus for 5 weeks in Europe and then 3 ½ weeks in the U.S., and there weren’t any problems. It was very easygoing with no problems. It worked out well.
Did Leif (Edling) write the lyrics for this album, or did you have some input?
No, he pretty much does it the way it’s always been done. The only thing I contribute to the lyrics is making the English a little better. That’s about it.
Do you mind singing other people’s lyrics?
I don’t have a problem with it at all. It’s kind of a nice change of pace because I don’t have to do (crap) except get in there and sing. With writing the lyrics for SA, I’m not too quick with that. It takes a while. With Candlemass everything is laid out, you just go out and do your job.
Musically is Death Magic Doom similar to King Of The Grey Islands, or is there a different vibe to it?
Personally, I think it’s within the same vein, but a little different. It’s on that same path, but you can see a progression. They are definitely cohesive. I think there’s a lot more variety in the songwriting on this one. There’s some upbeat stuff, some typical slow doom, some atmospheric stuff, there’s a lot of different things going on here.
How’s the response been to the album so far?
We knocked this one out of the park. Almost every major European magazine has given it great reviews. We got album of the month in a bunch of magazines. We slaughtered it over there. I was surprised. Even Swedish Rock was nice enough to give us album of the month.
Does the great response in Europe increase your expectations for North America?
I don’t know if it raises my expectations, because I never really have any. If someone overseas says it’s really good, a lot of people just follow the bandwagon and say it’s good. That’s fine with me. If they want to follow that bandwagon, go right ahead!
Will Candlemass be playing festivals for most of the summer?
Yes. We have quite a few. We’re getting new dates all the time. Come June we’re going to be busy all the way through the end of August. It’s going to be a busy year, because Solitude is doing some stuff, too. We’re doing a Romanian festival, and then possibly looking at putting together a European tour at the end of the year.
Looks like you’ll be spending a lot of time on planes.
Tell me about it. I’ve got 200 gazillion sky miles the past couple of years. It’s insane. I used to love to fly. It’s brutal. Doing these festivals there’s a lot of me going back and forth all the time. This year the way the dates are lining up I’ll just stay in whatever country until the next show comes up the next weekend. So it won’t be too bad.
Is there any summer festival you’re really looking forward to playing?
The whole band is stoked to do the Swedish Rock Festival this year because they haven’t played there since 2004 or so. We’ve got a good spot there and will have to kick some ass in the land of the Vikings. I’m looking forward to it. Heaven And Hell are the headliners. All I care about is getting done and listening to Heaven And Hell!
Now that you have two CDs with the band, will the live set focus mainly on recent material, or will you still do a lot of old stuff?
It’s going to be a typical mix of from the beginning until now. When you have a band like Candlemass with such a history, it makes it really difficult to make a setlist. You have to pick and choose from the whole spectrum.
When you sing the older songs, do you sing them as they were originally done, or do you put your own twist on them?
I give it a pretty traditional rendition, because that’s what people expect to hear. When we do stuff from Epicus I’ll use the traditional clean higher voices like Johan (Landqvist, the band’s original vocalist) used to do. That way the crowd can get what they want to hear.
Do you pay attention to the doom metal scene, or are you pretty isolated from it living in Texas?
I’m a recluse. I get a lot of questions about other doom metal bands. I listen to stuff like Dwight Yoakam. I fell out of listening to anything new. The crap that was coming out in the mid to late ‘90s disturbed me, so I just quit buying stuff. Now mainly I focus on older stuff or if somebody puts something in front of me that’s cool and new I might listen to it.
