There have been many high profile and important releases this year, but of all of them, it is this one that I have been most eagerly anticipating. After a three year wait since 2008’s ‘Turning Season Within’, which deservedly won one of the most important and coveted awards in music, being my album of the year; ‘A Rose For the Apocalypse’ follows in the same mould. Long gone are the fifteen minute Gothic Doom epics of the past, as the pursuit of success has demanded shorter, more easily digestible and commercial material. It was a switch in style that worked very well on their last album, pulling what a colleague of mine rightly described as a ‘Tonight’s Decision’. The question in my mind was would this be a triumphant progression like each of the previous albums, or would the switch in style have led them into a creative cul-de-sac.
The opening to first track ‘The Drowning Age’ does much to reassure with one hand, and unsettle long term fans with the other as Anders Jacobsson’s first class throat makes its first appearance, and from that it is clear that one of Draconian’s strongest assets is in fine form. The pace of the opening riff is significantly faster than what fans would be used to however, galloping along at an insistent pace as it does, yet as the track beds in a more deliberate and very recognisable Gothic Doom riff emerges. No longer are the comparisons to My Dying Bride relevant, these days it’s more Lacuna Coil and Tristania, albeit back in the days when the former still had a smidgen of integrity. Draconian’s other major asset, Lisa Johansson, is also in very fine voice, providing the relief from Anders harsh roars. It’s a fine opening track, yet it lacks punch.
One thing that is evident here is that the guitars, which always seemed to have that mournful and creative Greg Mackintosh quality about them, have clearly taken a step in the wrong direction. The guitar sound and riffs seem to have taken a step towards Johan Ericson’s other project Shadowgarden, and as a result some songs which could have shone such as ‘End of the Rope’ and ‘The Last Hour of Ancient Sunlight’ fall a bit flat. That’s not to say that we are lacking creativity here though, songs such as ‘Elysian Night’ take some steps into previously unexplored territory, and with great success. Others are noticeably Draconian, with riffs and refrains that have become part of their framework since ‘Where Lovers Mourn’. Songs like ‘Dead World Assembly’ where light acoustic passages led by Lisa lead into powerful and doom laden Anders segments, backed up by a classic riff. Similar could be said of ‘A Phantom Dissonance’ which is one of the stand out tracks on the album featuring an excellent Anders vocal performance and some of the best lyrics on what is a very well written album.
The problem here, if indeed there is one, is when Draconian rely more on the slow brooding Doom side of things. It’s not that they have forgotten how to do it, but it’s clear that the tracks here that have most in common with the style and material that forged their name, do not come close to matching the quality or intensity of the past. If I was going to stick my neck out and say it’s one thing in particular, I would have to suggest that the production is the most likely culprit. The multi layered glossy sound of the conclusion of ‘The Quiet Storm’ detracts from the mood, and it must be said this was the one criticism I could level at ‘Turning Season Within’ also. The bonus track ‘Wall Of Sighs’ is one of the best tracks on the album, mixing ‘Arcane Rain Fell’ era Draconian with ‘Shades Of God’ era Paradise Lost, so why this one has been tacked on as an afterthought is a mystery.
I have mixed feelings about ‘A Rose for the Apocalypse’. Being a long-time fan of the band, it is perhaps inevitable that an element of positive bias is always going to affect my judgement, but then to counter that there is also the great expectations of a fanboy that a band have to live up to in these circumstances. Initially, I found this one a bit of a disappointment. It has grown on me since without doubt, but it is still far short of the quality of ‘Turning Season Within’ or ‘Arcane Rain Fell’. I think they are relying too much now on the talents of Lisa Johansson, for as good as she is, what really makes it work is the contrast between hers and Anders vocals. The balance is not completely out of whack, but I would hope they would not shift it any further. The songs are all good, yet it’s short on outright hooks. Maybe in time I’ll look upon this album favourably alongside Draconian’s other material, but for the time being it doesn’t quite match up. Taken on its own merit, ‘A Rose for the Apocalypse’ is a very good album, but as a Draconian album, it’s a very average one.
http://www.draconian.se
Lee Kimber
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