House of Doom

On their second release with new vocalist Mats Levén, veteran Swedish doom lords Candlemass offer a cornucopia of Sabbath-style riff worship, tolling bells, Hammer horror organ breaks, and frenetic guitar solos. And that’s just the supercharged, multimovement title track, which serves as the centerpiece of the EP. Elsewhere, Levén’s stentorian melodies glide warmly over the thunderous guitar gallop of “Flowers of Deception” and the acoustic Renaissance ballad “Fortuneteller” before the singer takes a break during the instrumental death dirge of “Dolls on a Wall.”

A casino of the damned? Someone dial Anne Rice's agent; there's a potential Lestat story to be fleshed out here. In one of the weirdest experiments in metal, doom legends CANDLEMASS created a soundtrack song for an online gaming experience, "House of Doom". Now, before you trigger-happy zombie mash...