Draconian - Arcane Rain Fell

This review comes courtesy of Steven Cannon from Vibrations of Doom Magazine



DRACONIAN "Arcane Rain Fell" (2005 Napalm Records)

Tracklisting: 01. A Scenery Of Loss, 02. Daylight Misery, 03. The Apostasy Canticle, 04. Expostulation, 05. Heaven Laid In Tears (Angels' Lament), 06. The Abhorrent Rays, 07. The Everlasting Scar, 08. Death, Come Near Me.




While female vocals and keyboards may seem like an overblown cliche in this day and age, Scandinavian doomsters Draconian have taken My Dying Bride to the next, and most extreme level. Lyric wise, this is intelligently dealt out on par with many anti christian lyrics the most hateful of black metal bands spew; however the emphasis is on the true doom metal spirit and sadness, sorrow and depression overtake the content. The female vocals, when they are used (which is rather sparingly), are an amazing complement to the overall vicious death metal vocals. For all the doomy elements, however, there are moments of sheer viciousness and sickness, especially when the music is cranked up to an almost speedy black metal pace (most evident on tracks 'Heaven Laid In Tears' and 'The Apostasy Canticle').

Keep in mind, however, that this is primarily a doom/death metal album, but the extra additions REALLY help to keep this from sounding like a My Dying Bride clone. And anyone who has the nerve to call this gothic metal needs to go back to their local, trend-a-lite Hot Topic mall store for their music. Ending track 'Death, Come Near Me' utilizes the best death metal/female vocal combo, and it's rather a sad tune, as are many. In fact, many of the guitar riffs, especially the solo ones that open many tracks, would give early Candlemass and Trouble a run for their money.

There are tunes that will surely bring a tear to one's eye, and I also dug the Spoken word piece 'Expostulation,' which has amazing instrumentation to back it up. This CD EASILY gets my vote in the top 3 of albums that came out this year, and I'm sure you've heard highlights on WREK. This CD scored a perfect 100/100 as there is not ONE single thing to complain about whatsoever. One album I have not been able to put down, Draconian is going to be reviewed AND interviewed in issue #41, so you can hear for yourself one of the best doom/death/black combos in the universe.