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Candlemass<\/strong> fans were treated to a world-exclusive reunion in Athens on September 13, when the Swedish doom legends took the stage at Rock Hard Festival Greece with their iconic former vocalist Messiah Marcolin<\/strong><\/a>. It was Marcolin<\/strong>\u2019s first appearance with the band in nearly two decades \u2014 and it did not disappoint.<\/p>\n Speaking to Rock Hard Greece<\/a><\/em> editor Sakis Fragos<\/strong> after the show, Marcolin<\/strong> was effusive: “That was some fantastic show with Candlemass<\/strong> at the Rock Hard Festival Greece. I wanna thank all the fans from all around the world who traveled from 40 different countries \u2014 big, big thanks from the heart. And also all the Greek fans, who traveled all across Greece to come there. It was, like \u2014 I don’t know \u2014 4,500 people [going] crazy and everyone was singing and it was so much fun \u2014 singing, screaming, doom dancing, just the way it should be. So I’m very happy about it. And a big thank you.”<\/p>\n Asked how it felt to be back on stage with Candlemass<\/strong> after almost 20 years, Marcolin<\/strong> said: “It felt like it was yesterday [that we had last played together]. It was 20 years [earlier], but it felt like yesterday. It was the same thing when we did\u2026 I was with Candlemass<\/strong> from 1987 till 1991. Then I quit the band the first time. And then we did a reunion again in 2002, and I quit again in 2006. So in total I’ve been with them for eight years, but those, I think, I guess 12 years in between, it felt like time hadn’t passed. When we start playing, it’s just, like \u2014 I don’t know \u2014 it’s magic. Some bands, they have that when they play together; there’s something special that comes with it. And Candlemass<\/strong> always had that.”<\/p>\n The singer recalled their very first gig together in J\u00f6nk\u00f6ping back in 1987: “It was our very first concert, and we start the show with ‘Crystal Ball\u2019 and all of a sudden punk rockers and everyone starts jumping on the stage, getting crazy. There’s something special about when the five of us play together. So that’s very cool. It’s always been like that. It just works. I don’t know how to describe it. It just works. It works really well. Off stage is another thing.”<\/p>\n Marcolin<\/strong> laughed off any suggestion of nerves before his return to the Candlemass<\/strong> stage. “No, I don’t get nervous. Of course, you get a little excited before the show, but I don’t get nervous. I’m more excited. I want to kill. [Laughs] I don’t want to kill, but I feel like I wanna kill. You want to do the best. Then, of course, your body doesn’t act the same way as 20 years ago. I fell on my ass. What are you gonna do? The balance is not the same. All I can do is practice tai chi or something and try to get a better balance.”<\/p>\n