Candlemass' 1998 album Dactylis Glomerata was a strange time for the band. Candlemass had broken up in 1994 and main songwriter Leif Edling went on to form a new band called Abstrakt Algebra, who released their self-titled debut in 1995. Abstrakt Algebra wasn't really doing that well, so Edling decided to re-form Candlemass instead.
Dactylis Glomerata was a combination of songs written for Abstrakt Algebra and new material. The album features the short-lived vocalist Björn Flodkvist (who sang on that and From The 13th Sun in 1999), Abstrakt Algebra members Jejo Perković and Carl Westholm, and Arch Enemy guitarist Michael Amott.
In an interview with the Scars And Guitars Podcast series, Amott recounted his brief stint in Candlemass, saying he was a huge fan of the band but was never really a "member."
"I remember Leif Edling the mastermind and songwriter and founder of that band, Candlemass, he called me and… he was actually working for Swedish radio. He was like, doing interviews for the music program and stuff like that. So he'd interviewed me a couple of times for another band I was doing back then in the mid '90s or whatever, and then he actually called me one day and asked if I wanted to play with him on his album.
"He knew I was a big Candlemass fan from back in the '80s. I used to follow him around and see them live. I was really into that sound that they had back then. I think Candlemass had been sort of disbanded for a few years at that point, and he had another band called Abstrakt Algebra at the time. I think this was supposed to be the second Abstrakt Algebra album and they recorded it once and failed, or something like that. Something had happened. He wasn't happy with the production. He wanted to redo the songs, add a few more new songs, and re-record the whole thing. He wanted me to play guitar on it.
"So of course that was super exciting. It's an offer I couldn't refuse, actually. It was also one of the few times I've actually gone in and played somebody else's music apart from Carcass, of course. Other than that, it's always been… I've always done my own thing, really. I've never been a session guy or anything like that, but this was one of… I think, you know, he wanted my style and he wanted my sound and that's what he got. We never played live with that lineup the particular lineup. So I wouldn't say I was ever in Candlemass, but I did play on that record."
When asked if there was ever a potential for him to join Candlemass as a full-time member, Amott said there really wasn't.
"[Leif] writes all the music and lyrics, I believe. It's not a very collaborative effort in that way. It was more just like, 'play like this. No, not like that. More like this.' So it's like, I was just doing what he told me to do, which is fine. I enjoyed it. It was just very brief. I just recorded guitars."
