DRACONIAN - Under A Godless Veil (Napalm Records)

English:CD-review
  Van Muylem    21 oktober 2020

I think I saw them for the first time on stage during the Metal Female Voices Fest in Wieze (Belgium) and was impressed. Another thing that impressed me was the Sovran album! I have never been into (Gothic) Doom Metal, but they got me and made me dive into their world!


This new album starts with the divine and fragile voice of Heike, but once the guitars jump in the raw and aggressive voice of Anders starts shredding. It’s a heavenly track that leaves a bit the classic path of their doom metal sound and goes more into Gothic metal (with strings and a beautiful melody). The Sorrow Of Sophia reminds me a tiny bit of Shanon (Within Temptation) when she reached her top with her own band.

The Sacrificial Flame awakens the depressive feeling. Anders renders the angry feelings, whilst Heike seems to weep. The song is balanced in a perfect way and gives both sides their say. The music can be counted in as part of the best track they produced so far.

Lustrous Heart works out a bit more the story of the album, whilst their voices blend in like a match made in heaven. It’s clear that the band has found the right path and hit us with one jewel after another.

Sleepwalkers is a fragile and mesmerizing doom metal ballad filled with emotions and is simply one of the best tracks in it’s genre! This song simply doesn't need much words to describe it, just let the music do the talking!

Moon over Sabbaoth is the kind of song that goes on like water coming off a mountain, with now and then an acceleration and now and then still waters and ends deep, very deep (almost cinematic)!

Burial Fields almost makes you lay down and start dreaming about something sweet and soft. Heike’s voice is more than ever fragile, sweet and heavenly! It’s simply a divine song! The Sethian starts slowly, like a typical doom metal track, but the outburst come and go towards the end (even with some clean vocals from Anders). The song is a great mix between violence/resistance and finding peace and accepting your position. Claw Marks on The Throne gives the guitar solo an important place in the song, whilst the sound is for the rest typical Gothic doom-minded (with great vocals and a very emotional feel). A more floating and dreamy sound comes with Night Visitorwhere Heike leads the track. It’s a well crafted jewel: dark and yet shining with the perfect sound for such an emotional track. The last track is the most epic one from the album and fits like a handmade glove especially for you at the end of this great album! It’s like the final drop on your cake: that extra taste it needs to become really perfect!

They really ended with a blast (just like I adore it)! It’s clear that they ended with a higher score after Sovran (whilst I was thinking that was it: they can’t get any better). They amazed me, got me hooked and made me become emotional like only Anathema and Kumiko Noma with Elfenlied could do in the past. It’s magnificent, magical, depressing, hard, fragile … It’s everything a great album needs to have! It’s divine (like written by the gods of music)!