Candlemass vocalist Johan Längqvist recently offered Blabbermouth an update on the band's upcoming follow-up to 2019's The Door To Doom, confirming that it's been recorded and now in the mixing stage. The record is expected to be out later this year or next year.

When the interviewer noted that Längqvist has "never followed the riff as Ozzy did in Black Sabbath" and "always had a melody", he said: "Absolutely. I love the distorted guitar. I'm totally amazed by heavy guitars, but I don't want to sing there. I sing between the riffs where there's a big space, then the riff comes. I'm not that much into following the cues with my singing. I want to find my own way if it's possible. I've been writing songs myself, not for Candlemass, but all my life. I've been doing all kind of tunes, so many hundreds of thousands of times. I've been into all the chords for all my life. That helps me find ways and try out many different vocals on a song. But, I must say Leif is Mr. Candlemass when it comes to songwriting. He knows how he wants it to sound and be arranged. We're having a good time in the studio. He asks me, 'Can you try this? Can you do it like that?' I try it and sing a couple of lines and do a twist somewhere, then it's, 'Oh! We got it.' He has the red line and, of course, we can move around it. But what is important is that we're having fun and a good time trying out all these different kinds of vocals."

When asked if those comments meant that a new album in progress, his response was: "Yeah! I'm pretty much done. There will be something new. That's not a secret. I don't know how much the other guys have talked about it. Everything is pretty much recorded so far. There's a guy mixing it and we get copies to listen to and give him our opinions about it."

As for what Candlemass fans can expect from the new record, Längqvist said: "I don't think they will be disappointed. That, I can say. There are a lot of great songs here. I've never heard songs exactly the way they are, but they're so beautiful and you have the heavy stuff. You get a lot from the record. I'm pretty sure a couple of the songs will rise to the top of Candlemass song lists."

Source:	facebook.com
Band profile:	Candlemass