When it comes to great metal, Sweden is definitely up there. Besides the Gothenburg like At The Gates, Soilwork, or In Flames, you have bands like Candlemass. Candlemass is a doom metal band (doom metal is very Black Sabbath sounding) and in 2005, they released a song called “Black Dwarf.” In 2013, Entombed did a cover of it which begs the question?? Who is the winner?? Let’s take a look….
As I said in my introduction, in 2005, Candlemass released the song “Black Dwarf” on their self titled album. Now I am not that familiar (yet) with a lot of their music however, it’s a great song and has that 70’s sound but with a modern twist. The self titled album would be the last album with singer Messiah Marcolin who joined the band in 1987, left in 1991, and rejoined in 2002 until he left again in 2006. “Black Dwarf” is considered a fan favorite and in 2013, Sweden Rock Magazine released a promotional CD called Entombed vs. Candlemass where Entombed covered “Black Dwarf” and Candlemass covered “To Ride Shoot Straight And Speak The Truth.”
So how does Entombed’s version compare?? Well it actually makes it a completely new song and that’s how you do a great cover!! It pays respect to the original yet puts their signature sound on it. I mean seriously the original is great but this one dials everything up to 11 and it’s a damn shame that you can only find the CD on eBay. If you haven’t listened to this song, it’s on YouTube but it really needs to be put on streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify. Below are the songs so you decide who you think made the better song. Now I will be writing about Candlemass’s version of “To Ride Shoot Straight And Speak The Truth” in another article but for now enjoy Entombed’s version of “Black Dwarf.”
Winner: Entombed
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