Band:	Draconian
Album:	A Rose For The Apocalypse
Style:	Gothic doom metal
Release date:	June 2011

01. The Drowning Age
02. The Last Hour Of Ancient Sunlight
03. End Of The Rope
04. Elysian Night
05. Deadlight
06. Dead World Assembly
07. A Phantom Dissonance
08. The Quiet Storm
09. The Death Of Hours
10. Wall Of Sighs [bonus]

Being around since 1994, Draconian is one of those bands that had to be patient so as to see their visions come true and it wasn't until 2003 when their melodic gothic doom/death metal debut came to the surface. Despite their heavy influences from pioneering acts with personal sound (Theatre Of Tragedy, Katatonia, Paradise Lost to name the more dominant ones) they managed through their inspirational/emotional status and persuading performance to reach the hearts of the aforementioned scene's audience and create quite a buzz around them.

And then Arcane Rain Fell, one of the richest releases of the later years in this very specific field of metal rewarded everyone that had entrusted their hopes on Draconian and everyone could notice their audience growing in numbers day by day. It was its lyrical theme but most and above all the way they interpreted the grief and sorrow, but also the scornful wrath, of the most sang figure in metal history, the exiled Archangel.

During The Burning Halo EP they started showing a less affected and more spot-on gothic metal face with a doom-flirting background and it was with Turning Season Within they moved towards this sound to a wider extent. Less affected/elegant and more straight-forward compositions in terms of emotion were its main characteristics, failing to create the captivating aesthetic which was the locomotive lever that made them what they are.

Three years later, a promising title and cover artwork started a high mobility among the ranks of the band's audience. Their fourth and long-awaited full-length was reality. Turning Season Within was a step forward for the sound of the band whereas their later effort, A Rose For The Apocalypse, is a step backwards simply because it adds nothing new to the musical journey of Draconian. The only factor that seems to have progressed has to be Lisa Johansson's entrancing interpretation, apparently though she's not enough to take off the rope from the band's neck. It's not a bad album, but it's not good either. It just doesn't live up to any expectation. The band tried to rehash the fresh sound of their previous effort and blend it partially with the aesthetic of past glories without succeeding.

What Draconian seem to be missing nowadays is the art of making a song stick to your mind, an essential element for bands like them that rely on atmosphere. Of course there are bands without memorable compositions that possess the charisma of earning the respect of the listener in their very own way, Draconian never were and don't seem to be one of them these days. In one hand they have their influences, something welcome (even to the extent they breathe through their work), on the other hand they seem to copy themselves to a level that makes you think you've been there before and it was far better, so what's the point? Anders' grunts have remained the same, but this time they seem they're not working things out. It must be the poorer musical environment that's not enough and doesn't seem to help him stand at the front with grandeur. Even the "cinematic" recites don't possess not 1% of the poetic aura they had back in Arcane Rain Fell. And in this mire of composing mediocrity here come the 64 minutes of duration that make this experience nearly traumatic. It's too much for a shadow of themselves. In the end there's not pretty much to recall and more or less the negative aspects surpass any flickering hope.

"September began with a goodbye to my heart ". The way I feel about this album has already been said (and done) by Draconian themselves, I couldn't express it better, "we are mere whisperings of a heartfelt elegy".