Draconian: A Rose For The Apocalypse

If you've been reading this blog for a while--and I hope there are a few people out there who can say that--you'll know that I adore this Swedish Goth Metal band. Love love love them. So, I wasted no time getting their brand new one (just out today)--A Rose for the Apocalypse.

I'll just tell you up front that I love it. It's not quite impressive enough to overtake their previous release, Turning Season Within, but it's close.

Draconian has this gift of writing music that is both powerful and beautiful--a throbbing, pounding beat accompanied by a synth line or vocal that is almost heart-breakingly beautiful, or a quiet, peaceful moment that erupts into a wild, powerful cacophony that will make you wish you were holding a guitar so you could bang along. (Fortunately for me that is an option!) Female vocalist Lisa Johannson has one of those magical voices that soars over the music or blends in with it--many times her vocals are layered in with the synthesizer line in the mix. Anders Jacobsson's harsh vocals provide a nice contrast--beauty and the beast, sort of. The interplay of their two different vocal styles, the friction that results, is a large part of the charm. There's a reason I've said I want to start a Draconian tribute band. If I can find a group of musicians who can produce music like this, this powerful and this dramatic, then they'll be able to play the kind of music that regularly thunders through my brain, too.

Another secret to their success is their production--there are a lot of sublties in the mix, little things that add so much. These guys know their sound.

Favorite tunes on this one? I've only listened to it all the way through once, and there aren't any tunes on here I don't like, but I'd have to pick "The Drowning Age," "The Last Hour of Ancient Sunlight," and "Elysian Night." Subject to change after repeated listenings--of which there will be many, I can assure you.


My final verdict? An A. Buy it. Now. And get Turning Season Within, too, while you're at it. And prepare to have your mind blown. Yes, it is possible for someone to make music like this.

There's hope for us after all!