### Draconian: Arcane rain fell

#### 03/06/10 || Smalley

I’m not huge on goth metal in general, but I have to admit, Draconian’s one of the better players in this genre, and have made nothing but solid albums throughout their career, full of sad, depressing songs, perfect for closing the blinds on a drearily rainy afternoon and lying in bed, with the covers pulled over your head and yer mascara gettin’ all ruined. How do these guys stick out from the melancholy crowd? Because, their music actually has some balls to it (along with a vagina, but I’m getting off-topic…), and isn’t fucken boring, unlike some of their musical peers (coughparadiselostcough).

Said balls come from Anders Jacobsson, who actually fucken growls, while said vagina comes from Lisa Johansson, who is the “beauty” part of the bands’ beauty-and-the-beast dichotomy, with her tender, beautiful, soothing singing. It’s a dynamic that Draconian pulls off extremely well, with Jacobsson and Johansson’s vocals used in almost even-quantities, by themselves as well as in tandem (which works out better than you’d expect), and it adds a very welcome variety to the band’s sound.

Songwriting-wise, the tracks on “Arcane” are mostly slow, sorrowful dirges, but with plenty of atmospheric touches (like the ever-present synth) which help spice up the proceedings, and keep ‘em from getting boring. Jacobsson’s abrasive, harrowing growls work perfectly with “Arcane”‘s overall tale of Satan’s fall from heaven (you can practically picture him as the tortured voice of Lucifer), and production-wise, the surprisingly heavy rhythm guitar is very welcome, and provides a good contrast to the winding, lamentful lead guitar lines, adding another heavy/soft dynamic.

While I don’t feel that any of the songs on “Arcane” are incredible per se, there’s no denying that, despite their mostly slow tempos, they’re all quite well-executed, compelling, and enjoyable nonetheless, so “Arcane rain fell” gets the recommendation from me for anyone in need of some good, gloomy goth metal. Now, go get your makeup messy, ya big emo.

- Information
- Released: 2005
- Label: Napalm Records
- Website: Draconian MySpace
- Band
- Anders Jacobsson: vocals
- Lisa Johansson: vocals
- Johan Ericson: lead & rhythm guitar
- Magnus Bergström: rhythm guitar
- Jesper Stolpe: bass
- Andreas Karlsson: synthezizer & programming
- Jerry Torstensson: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. A Scenery Of Loss
- 02. Daylight Misery
- 03. The Apostasy Canticle
- 04. Expostulation
- 05. Heaven Laid In Tears (Angel’s Lament)
- 06. The Abhorrent Rays
- 07. The Everlasting Scar
- 08. Death, Come Near Me