I’m not the biggest fan of Doom Metal, but after Cryptopsy and Znowhite I’ll be glad to have a chance to slow things down, hopefully. The Wiki entry for this album describes it thus:
”... features haunting slow guitar riffs, beautiful soprano vocals, meandering keyboards/piano, violins, cellos and clear yet aggressive male growling vocals.” Arcane Rain Fell - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Other than the growling vocals --- which is something I’m very slowly getting used to --- this looks like it could be interesting. We’ll see.
Arcane rain fell --- Draconian --- 2005 (Napalm)
Recommended by Carpe Mortem
When I read further, I see this is a concept album and I even like the premise --- Satan’s fall from grace and the creation of Hell --- so I have perhaps not high hopes as such, but ones you could climb up on and maybe feel a little lightheaded. There are only eight tracks on it, but of those, two shade the ten minute mark and one runs for over fifteen, so this is either going to be a good thing or a bad thing in terms of track lengths. There are also female vocals credited, so hopefully there’ll be some gentler, softer singing to counterbalance the rough male vocals described above. I also note the use of piano, cello and violin, so at least Cryptopsy this is not going to be!
Perhaps predictably, we open with the sound of rain falling and thunder crashing, then in the distance but getting louder we hear a single guitar playing a mournful dirge as the storm continues, eventually fading away completely to leave just the guitar until it’s joined a short moment later by the rhythm section. The vocal is a spoken one, down low in the mix as the guitar continues to hold court, courtesy of Johan Ericsson, then as “A scenery of loss” gets going the vocal goes all death metal, dark and growly, with sombre keyboards joining in. The overall effect is of a dramatic, tragic scene unfolding, and indeed it is, perhaps one of the most tragic stories of all, as we listen to Satan bemoan his fall from Heaven.
A female voice now joins in, as soprano Lisa Johnansson adds her lament to the song, the somewhat dark operatic element enhanced by her contribution. Ericsson winds up on the guitar now, and it gets a bit more forceful and a little faster as Johansson takes over the vocal, Jerry Torstensson hammering the drumkit to great effect and building the tension. Original vocalist Anders Jacobsson returns and so does the spoken vocal. Even though this opening song is over nine minutes long, it doesn’t seem like it. It never drags, never seems overlong and there’s not really any part of it I could see being left out and the song still surviving. It’s exactly as long as it should be.
The thunder and rain return as Andreas Karlsson’s piano plays a soft but bitter passage, the spoken vocal bringing the song to an end and opening the album very impressively. “Daylight misery” is another darkly atmospheric track, with the spoken vocal backed by a jangly, introspective guitar and slow, doomy drums while Jesper Stolpe on the bass keeps the beat like a broken heartbeat. Lisa (the surnames are too long, so I’m going to refer to them all by their forenames) has a part to play in this too, “The apostasy canticle” recounts the creation of the Universe by God, and how Satan and his minions feared and hated it.
”He blinded us/ Polluted our minds and forced us/ To drink his blood” he sings, and vows vengeance on the Almighty. Andreas’s keyboards play an important part in this song, painting a bleak and unremitting darkscape against which Johann’s guitar growls and wails, like a soul in torment.
The ragged, snarling vocals of Anders work very well here, his angry, pained voice encapsulating perfectly the mindset of the fallen one as he rages at what God has done, at the freedom lost when
”We knew not the grip/ The bondage of light” and swears revenge
”In this abyss we shall be free/ Here we will celebrate the coming war.” The tempo gets a little faster and more intense halfway through as Satan declares war on God and gathers his followers to him. Looking up into the unimaginable distance from Hell to Heaven, his former home, he vows to bring down the crystal towers that surround God’s kingdom and rule over them. Choral vocals on the synth, crushing percussion and Anders’s growling vocal all go together to show us Lucifer taking his throne of blood and plotting the overthrow of God through his creations, humanity:
”I will show the world God’s true face/ I will let the thunder roar.”
The spoken vocal opening “Expostulation” comes from guest Ryan Henry, who also wrote the lyric. It’s a short but brutal piece, dripping with anger and the lust for vengeance, and the dark delight of someone who destroys something created by another. Backed only by synth with choral vocals Henry speaks in Satan’s voice, as if writing a poison pen letter to his former master, as he describes the evil he will wreak, and has wreaked, on Earth.
”For this I slither in aspect/ Through Eden's gleanings /For this I bid Cain slayeth his brother/ For this I rend the weakest salient of thy diadem /As I, its jewel and very metal shall reflect no more/ Your light - the light of enslavement.” For a short piece it’s exceptionally powerful and you almost shrink from the hatred Henry puts into his voice --- Lucifer’s voice --- for God. Bravo.
I have a slight problem with the opening lines of “Heaven laid in tears (Angel’s lament)" ---
”Behold the skies, they’re full of lies, in disguise.” It’s a little trite, but this album is so good I can forgive that. Also, they’re sung by Lisa which gives them power they might otherwise not have had, not to mention that the melody is quite relaxing, almost laidback for much of the song until Jerry pounds in with the drums and Anders spits the vocal out in the chorus. It’s almost like a duet between a devil and an angel, though if so, this is an angel who has switched her allegiance and now serves Satan. The song gets more intense as it moves towards its conclusion, very powerful and moving. “The abhorrent rays” sees Satan rail against the sun, which is no friend of his. It opens with a growling vocal and thunderous drums as Johan cranks out some fine riffs and the tempo ups again.
I’ve yet to hear a bad track on this album, and the previous two are vying for standout in my mind at this moment, though we have still to get to the fifteen-minute closer, which at this point I’m very much looking forward to. Some fine phased guitar here too, really adds to the atmosphere. But no Lisa. Guess she can’t be on every track, and this is a rant, best carried by Anders’s powerful voice shouting hate at the orb of God’s brightest creation. The spoken vocal does make an appearance though, breaking up the harsher singing, and Andreas’s synth vocals add another layer of epicity to the song. Oh, there’s Lisa, right at the end! Nice one!
A slower, grinding guitar opens “Everlasting scar”, with Anders at his angry best, spitting hatred and scorn at God, and joined by Lisa early in the song. Great extended burning solo by Johan here before it slows down again and Lisa takes the lead in the vocals, Anders (or possibly Johan as he does backing vocals as well as playing the guitar) joins her in a short duet. There’s a very tragic feel to the guitar work; there has been mostly throughout the album but here it’s almost as if Satan is accepting his fate, and it’s unaccountably sad when he roars
”Walking the earth as the solitary reaper.../ Dressed in the lost voices of time/ I bathe in quiet waters of tearful shades/ (And) I suffer in every corner of your sanctuary/ Embrace me now, for I will die/ The pain I feel inside will never leave.” It’s almost like listening to the dying cries of a wounded beast, but being unable or unwilling to end their pain.
The closer is “Death, come near me” and begins on haunting piano and synth line before Johann cuts in with a sharp guitar, the vocal not beginning until we’re nearly three minutes in, but as I mentioned this is a fifteen-minute track. The spoken male vocal is first, quickly followed by Lisa in a star turn as she pours out her heart, entreating Death to grant her release from this world of woe. She’s joined by Anders as the two create a powerful duet which somehow really works well. In the seventh minute everything falls away to a single guitar line and the spoken male vocal, with violin and cello coming in to add their mournful voices to the lament. It’s quite stunning really.
This is an album I wish would not end, but we’re already halfway through the final track as Johann sets up a gentle, emotional guitar passage, backed by the lush keyboards of Andreas, then harder guitar pulls in the drums and bass as the vocal from Anders comes back in, lamenting
”Embrace me now, delightful ease!/ Give me a world of wondrous peace!” Lisa rejoins the vocalist as they duet again, against a slow beat maintained by the rhythm section and by Johann’s steady guitar.
”Oh, shed a tear /For the loss of innocence” cries Lisa with either Johann (normal voice) or Anders, and I do. You wouldn’t think it was possible for someone to make you feel sorry for the Devil, but somehow Draconian make you feel that way. The music and the songwriting is just that powerful. Never quite heard or experienced anything like it before. An aching fadeout on piano and guitar and I have a new artiste I need to check into, perhaps even a whole new subgenre.
TRACKLISTING
1. A scenery of loss
2. Daylight misery
3. The apostasy canticle
4. Expostulation
5. Heaven laid in tears (Angels’ lament)
6. The abhorrent rays
7. The everlasting scar
8. Death, come near me
I realise that a lot of the reason I am drawn to this album is due to the incredible story and how it’s handled, but it’s more than just that. This style of --- what would it be called? Gothic Doom? --- is something new to me and mixes the best elements of my two favourite subgenres, progressive and gothic metal, coupled with some amazing vocals and truly outstanding musicianship. The fact that most of the singing is done in that growly way I hate, and yet I can listen to it, is testament to the effect this album has had on me.
I certainly hope there are more like this, both from this band and others in this subgenre, and I’m eternally grateful to Carpe for turning me on to this music.