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May 17, 2012 |
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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
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Some music is a lot like pizza. That is to say in terms of what it offers, objectively speaking it's arguably pretty tasty, depending on the toppings there's something for everyone to enjoy, and it'll fill ya up. Still, despite all of that, at the end of the day if given the choice, pizza probably still wouldn't be your first choice in a world of T-bone steaks, prime rib, and seafood platters amongst other more mouth-watering choices. Y'know what I'm saying???
This little food analogy basically sums up my feelings towards that nebulous, genre/subgenre of Extreme Music known as Goth. Born in the 80's of a strange and unholy condomless threesome betwixt Punk, Metal, and New Wave, Goth is often associated with gloomy, perpetually forlorn tweens 'n teens obsessed with death, faux-dark poetry, and the colour black. While there is some demonstrable truth to this, at the same time it's also a bit of a stereotypical mischaracterization and a worn-out cliché to boot. Goth is actually - with respect - quite a long-lived and diverse musical stomping ground that has spun off more than a few sub-subgenres of its own, including Darkwave and Dark Ambient amongst others.
Some of the most influential acts in commercial Rock/Metal today - i.e. NINE INCH NAILS, MINISTRY, MARILYN MANSON, SKINNY PUPPY, et al - are firmly rooted in the original 80's Goth scene which now extends dark tendrils of influence deep into every corner of the 'Extreme Music World' from Black Metal, to Death Metal, to Industrial, to Christina Aguilera's 'Fighter' video. Again...respect. So as much as many of us here in the world of torn-sleeve denim jean jackets, faded black t-shirts, and bullet belts like to take the hell out of those pale, skinny little kids with the weird hairdo's and the black nailpolish and toss empty beer cans at them from fast-moving camaros...fact is, the music they pay fashion homage to has played a larger and more important role than many of us are willing to admit, both in the evolution and embellishment of our own sonic platters of choice.
If you think I'm talking B.S. here then I suggest you toss out those DIMMU BORGIR, COF, THEATRE OF TRAGEDY, and MORTIIS albums you currently treasure, 'cause without the influence of Goth...sorry but those and many others in the Metal realms would never have existed in the first place. And that's a stone-cold fact, yo!
Still, my respect and even admitted guilty-pleasure-appreciation for the genre/subgenre aside...again, to return to the food analogy for a moment, like pizza, Goth is for me a tasty treat that nine times outta ten will still take the backseat to other 'Extreme' dishes more exciting to my aural tastebuds. Which brings me full-circle to DRACONIAN's sophomore effort, 'Arcane Rain Fell' on Napalm Records.
Hailing from Sweden, DRACONIAN (Johan Ericson/guitar, Lisa Johansson/vox, Anders Jacobsson/vox, Jerry Torstenson/drums, Daniel Arvidsson/guitar, Andreas Karlsson/keyboards, and Jesper Stolpe/bass) are a relatively young act only a few years into their career. Many in the Metal press are labeling this as a 'Doom Metal' release, but to my ears - as per my above rant - this is more firmly rooted in Goth than in anything resembling 'True', I dunno...CANDLEMASSish or CATHEDRALesque Doom. Admittedly, there is a definite Doom influence at play here via the slow, turgidly down-tuned riffs and lengthy, epic (actually vaguely MORGIONish at times) compositions, but in terms of dark melody, ambience, and the overall aesthetic at play on 'Arcane Rain Fell', it's an educated speculation that this is a bunch more likely to favour throwing on 'As Too Dark Park' or 'A Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste' at parties than...oh I dunno...
'The Ethereal Mirror', or 'Nightfall', let alone anything by BURNING WITCH or THORR'S HAMMER. I mean hey, I could be wrong, but like I said, based upon what I'm hearing on this, that's my educated guess. If DRACONIAN are 'Doom Metal' at all then it's in the same sense that acts like SWALLOW THE SUN are Doom. It's mellow, melancholy, melodic, 'Romantic Doom' as viewed in solitude through purple John Lennon glasses at the foot of a misty lake. 'Doom' more likely heavily influenced by, and appealing to, fans of THEATRE OF TRAGEDY, SINS OF THY BELOVED, and LEAVES' EYES than any true, old-skool disciples of Iommi, Dorrian, or Marcolin.
And truly the TOF, SOTB - admitted GOTH Metal acts by the way - comparisons ring the truest here what with the romantic melancholy of it all, the dual 'clean female' (Johansson), 'Deathly/guttural male' (Jacobsson) vocal interplay, the mournfully heartfelt guitars, the general vibe of ambient loneliness and despair...dudes this is total, full-on, unapologetic 'Goth' Metal. Case closed. And that's not a bad thing either. The tracks on offer on 'Arcane Rain Fell' are executed with admirable technical proficiency, passion, and purpose (apparently this is a concept album dealing with Lucifer's fall from grace). It's all very well done and in its way quite stirring and beautiful. For me though - and this is a problem I have with this whole genre/subgenre as a whole moreso than with this band/album in particular - none of it is memorable enough, or viscerally emotive enough to demand many repeat plays past say, my second or third experience.
As good as they are, DRACONIAN are merely doing what many others have both done, and are currently doing.
So there you go. Am I impressed with DRACONIAN? In a purely technical sense, sure...they're a talented and competent enough bunch to be sure (for what it's worth, if listen to this sort of fare I must, I'll take the aforementioned SWALLOW THE SUN instead due to their firmer grasp on a certain 'frostier', more genuinely stirring and heartfelt sense of dark emotion). It's just that their genre/subgenre of choice doesn't generally float my boat is all. For those who enjoy the more darkly romantic, morbidly beautiful corners of the Metal realms however I can think of no better candidate for perusal than DRACONIAN's 'Arcane Rain Fell'. It's sure to pique even your absinthe-dulled interest and crack those dark purple lips of yours into something that resembles a smile.
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