ALBUM REVIEW: Under A Godless Veil – Draconian

Since forming in 1994 in Saffle, Sweden, DRACONIAN have established themselves as one of the foremost peddlers of gothic doom metal. Coming five years to the day since last album Sovran, Under A Godless Veil is their seventh outing and their second with new vocalist Heike Langhans. Despite their stature the band are no exceptions to the law of diminishing returns, though Sovran did hail something of a return to form for the band. Thankfully, Under A Godless Veil continues this upward trajectory and expands on both the promise of its predecessor and the band’s musical horizons.

Vocally, the band very much employ a ‘beauty and the beast’ style; this can be tricky to pull off with authenticity but the band manage it with aplomb. This is due in large part to the twin voices of Heike Langhans and Anders Jakobsson complementing each other so well, their common emotional threads making it sound as if they are different facets of the same narrator rather than two wholly separate entities.

Heike’s voice is angelic, almost folky with an ethereal, tender quality and it sits in stark contrast to Anders’ cavernous death growls. This dichotomy in the vocals and the sheer skill of them stops either style growing stale and elevates the already impressive song-writing. The band also employ keys to lend another textural element to the music; though they’re often minimalist and unobtrusive, they expand the album’s sonic palette and add a more epic, cinematic feel to the gloom.

Album opener Sorrow of Sophia lives up to its name, with a sorrowful guitar-led intro capped by Heike’s soft croon. The quieter passages with clean guitar melodies with her emotive, softer vocals balances with the crushing, doom-laden passages presided over by Anders’ roar. Coupled with second track The Sacrificial Flame, the two tracks provide fifteen minutes of enthralling gloomy metal and the lows Heike hits in the latter are truly chilling. The band also flirt with post-rock on Sleepwalker as well as even more epic, cinematic feel such as on Night Visitor. Along with these, the late highlight The Sethian is a slow-burner that gradually crescendos throughout before a grandiose conclusion underpinned by lush, swelling keys. Closer Ascend Into Darkness is among the most epic songs the band have ever penned, with both vocalists trading passages over yearning, swirling guitars punctuated by the occasional spoken word passage before closing with the pleading howl “Oh mother / have mercy”.

While songs follow a tried and tested formula honed since the band’s formation, DRACONIAN are masters of their craft and none do gloomy, gothic doom like they do. In keeping with the genre, the band are no strangers to long songs at all, but if there’s any nitpicking to be had here it’s that some of these songs would benefit from a little trim of a minute here and there. They’re clearly able to do more with shorter songs (Night Visitor); the pace sags somewhat around Burial Fields but it recovers its footing soon enough.

Over its hour-long runtime, DRACONIAN conjure a gloomy, morose atmosphere with barren soundscapes devoid of all hope. Journeying through sadness into light, this is not; instead choosing to wallow in abject despair. It’s haunting, otherworldly music so utterly bereft of hope and light that its misery will stick around long after the final chord dies out.

Rating: 8/10

Under A Godless Veil is set for release on October 30th via Napalm Records.

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