Draconian - A Rose For The Apocalypse review
| Band: | Draconian |
| Album: | A Rose For The Apocalypse |
| Style: | Gothic doom metal |
| Release date: | June 24, 2011 |
| Guest review by: | Vonpire |
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]
Whenever I hear Draconian playing, I feel a bag of mixed feelings: calm but heavy, deep and majestic. And especially something I don't feel with many bands... chills all over my spine. And that for me is priceless.
The first time I heard this album it didn't hit me exactly like I was expecting. Fortunately, what I thought of the album upon my first listen has been completely changed with the subsequent hearings. Now I put it at a high level of excellence, at the level of previous Draconian works. It brings them a more mature sound, but with the same geniality and force as ever, clearly showing that they are a top gothic/doom metal act with merit.
The album flows over 10 beautiful compositions of melodic genius. The junction of the serene and sublime vocals of Lisa Johansson and majesty of the gutturals of Anders Jacobsson are employed in a wonderful way, making Lisa (and her voice devoid of any touch of rebellious rocker but epic and perfect for the purpose of the band) much more prominent than in previous works. She's probably one of the most magnificent voices in the metal world at this moment. Then there's Anders who brings us everything we need for a more extreme metal sound. Wonderful composition aided by perfect grunts that lift us to a dark heavy atmosphere, black and absolute.
Doom elements are more present than in Turning Seasons Within; the symphonies are perfect, the voices, the guitars, dramatic compositions... The feeling you get when the album ends is a need to hear it again and again and again... Also notice the introduction of experimental touches, very evident in the song "The Quiet Storm," more present in the voice of Lisa. All the songs are guided by a tornado of power and melody and I really think that Lisa glows on this album. Her voice is passionate, calm, serene, simple and beautiful.
It is true that this album follows the line of its predecessor. More gothic, less doom, but the end result is a perfect balance between these genres and it would be cruel and not fair to compare this with previous works, because each of the Draconian albums are special. In fact I dare say that they are special and unique. You may think now I am a fanboy. If the meaning of that is loving their music by its geniality then I'll be glad to be one.
In short, I didn't find anything as good in the genre (or even in other genres) this year. I believe it is questionable and also a matter of taste - which means that what is perfect to you can suck to others or vice-versa - but I think this album is the elevation of the excellence of music, the perfect contrast of sunlight and darkness.
This is an album that cannot be assessed properly without the necessary attention. It is necessary to caress it and in the end one will be highly rewarded.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 10 |
| Songwriting: | 10 |
| Originality: | 8 |
| Production: | 10 |
Written by Vonpire | 29.09.2011
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Rating:
6.0
6.0
|
Rating: 6.0 |
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. Read more ›› |
Comments page 3 / 3
Comments: 71
Visited by: 239 users
| Vonpire Posts: 471  |
That was a joke, maybe you guys didn't get it. Or maybe you got but you couldn't resist, like I knew 
---- Beware the Shadows of Dusk
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| Slayer666 Posts: 2466  |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 15.10.2011 at 21:05 Written by [user id=4365] on 15.10.2011 at 23:14 Oh, hush you two. You're ruining it for him. He needs to be victorious here in order to make him feel better about
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| Vonpire Posts: 471 |
No, I just wanted to expose again the kind of ridiculous you are. Thanks for proving me right. You are so influenced that you did exactly what I wanted you too, you couldn't even differenciate a joke from serious talking. That is seriously a case of dumbness. I won, a bottle of darkside cookies, yeah! Lol Slayer666 ,you have issues XD You want to be elite also to be invited to those train parties don't you?? See the thread is alive again. How easy was that? Please continue feeding. I'd love to see discussion about the album though instead of your ridiculous dissection of anything I write. Before throwing flames aimed at me at least think a bit before doing so. I seriously dont give a f**** either you like the album or not. You guys are completely "at spiders". "Yes, a storm is certanly coming.../
---- Beware the Shadows of Dusk
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306  |
Since when is it dumb to reference The Price Is Right? Bob Barker would beat the shit out of you for saying that.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Slayer666 Posts: 2466 |
Written by Vonpire on 16.10.2011 at 18:16 Yup, that's exactly it. You've got me all figured out. Congrats, champ. 
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| Vonpire Posts: 471 |
To Troy. First it wasn't for you. Second what I relate to dumbness is the fact that none of you get that the sentence of "I win" was a joke, I even put the lol in front of it .. Still 3 people have taken that seriously and saw that as an oportunity to "attack".
---- Beware the Shadows of Dusk
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by Vonpire on 16.10.2011 at 22:33 I don't think you understand the rest of us are all joking with you. :/ http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=trolling
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Vonpire Posts: 471 |
Oh really? So how were we going to make your wish? ;X This is a multiple trolling. Everyone got that. I launched the wood you guys put it on fire. Then red wine some smoke and a nice piece of music (Draconian for.ex.)
---- Beware the Shadows of Dusk
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| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 62002  |
I say its more gothic doom, then death/doom what can hear somehow in older albums, Anders grunts are not sos trong here, Lisa sung more, makes it better.
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"  I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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| DraconianJays Posts: 11  |
I agree with you 100%, and one of the few reviewers whom can see the album for what it really is that the band was trying to accomplish here rather than mourn & wine for what the album wasn't compared to what the fans wanted. There aren't few metal bands that take on the topic of humanity's relationship with nature and much less be honest about it. They were the perfect band to take on the task composing the most beautiful Gothic metal album ever released. Your review of Lisa's performance I believe states quite well the way I felt of her and how she perfectly evolved her style to fit with the atmosphere of this album. You're not a "fanboy", you're stating a fact, objectively this is their best performance despite popular & winy opinion to the contrary.
---- One is only as ignorant as they choose to be -DraconianJays
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| Vonpire Posts: 471 |
Written by DraconianJays on 17.01.2020 at 11:50 Thx!
---- Beware the Shadows of Dusk
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