CANDLEMASS Guitarist's Axe Now Available On eBay

August 5, 2008

CANDLEMASS guitarist Mats "Mappe" Björkman is selling the white "Candlemass skull" Gibson Les Paul Junior guitar that he used on the band's Grammis award-winning (Swedish Grammy equivalent) comeback album in 2005. The axe, which was also used at a number of live shows that year, comes with a Seymour Duncan Invader microphone plus the original mic. The buyer will also get a signed photo with Mappe and the guitar.

The guitar is now being auctioned via eBay at this location.

Björkman was sentenced in March 2008 to two years in a Swedish prison for grand theft. He was convicted of stealing CDs worth approximately $490,000 from the distribution warehouse of Entertainment Network Scandinavia AB, where he and an accomplice shipped the CDs to Stockholm retail outlets.

In a recent interview with Metal-Rules.com, CANDLEMASS bassist/main songwriter Leif Edling addressed Mats' current legal status, explaining, "There will be a hearing when he comes back from [the recently completed U.S.] tour, but it was totally OK for him to go on tour and things in the papers have been so exaggerated. I feel really sorry for him. It's really unfair to him, what's been said in the papers and on the Internet. I'm pretty convinced, you know, nothing will come out of this. He will be totally freed and we can go on and record the album and continue with CANDLEMASS. I don't see a problem there. If there was a problem, he wouldn't be allowed to go on tour. He wouldn't be allowed to go abroad. That's how it is, you know."

In an April 2008 interview with Sweden Rock magazine, Mats commented on his theft conviction by saying, "I am not a criminal, but sure, just like I've sold some CDs, I've helped [Mats' alleged accomplice] sell CDs. But these are CDs that I've been given or gotten through my dealings within the music business. It's not a secret that record label people in Stockholm sell boxes of CDs to different stores, but it's nothing people like to talk about."

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).