March has been pretty emotionally intense. At the beginning of the month, we looked at the massively bombastic monster that was Doom Eternal, and a few weeks back we beheld the soul-crushing mastery that was Obsidian from Paradise Lost. I conclude this month with a record that’s similar in many respects, but different in a few others. Still dark in some aspects, but surprisingly bright in others. Regardless of it’s differences, today’s album is just as Gothic as Obsidian.....and might be more in some aspects. So, get on your blackest clothes & makeup, grab that book of Gothic Romance stories, and get ready for my review of Draconian’s 2020 hit, Under A Godless Veil. Let’s begin!
Background
Taken from the band’s Bandcamp page:
“And though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death...
Almost five years after their sixth long-player Sovran, DRACONIAN once again cast their breathtaking veil of melancholy over the world. This second full-length release featuring singer Heike Langhans delivers a captivating mélange of dreary doom and contrasty vocals and mixes Heike's angelic female voice with Anders Jakobsson's death growls. The one-hour long album, graced with a haunting cover artwork by Natalia Drepina, is carrying the legacy of gothic doom metal à la My Dying Bride or Trees Of Eternity into the new decade and will drag the listener into a sorrowful cosmos right with the first notes of the spellbinding opener "Sorrow Of Sophia" that interweaves beauty with crippling depression. After crushing slow rhythms and the fragile "Sleepwalkers" that leads through barren soundscapes, the band - founded in Säffle / Sweden in 1994 – rises up to their best in the nine-minute long 'Ascend Into Darkness', which will echo in the listener's ears long after the final chord has died away.”
Basic Description
Tragedy & Beauty.
If Obsidian from Paradise Lost was the dark Yin, then Under A Godless Veil is the lighter Yang. Make no mistake: this record can still hit you in the feels pretty hard. All of the songs on the album are filled to the brim with emotional vocals, instrumentation, and atmosphere that tugs at the heartstrings very intensely. However, what separates this release from the previously mentioned release is the amount of beauty that can be felt. Obsidian could be beautiful in places most definitely, but Under A Godless Veil excels at it. For every note of sadness, there’s a note of love. For every bit of darkness, there’s a bit of light (Though not too much). Under A Godless Veil is a more balanced record when it comes to the emotions it generates, and I think that’s what makes it an easier pill to swallow.
Best Track
Sorrow Of Sophia opens up Under A Godless Veil, and rightfully earns that position! Though it is a little slow in the beginning, and the same time the buildup pours on the Gothic tragedy. Once the metal comes in swinging, it hits you hard when the guitar starts up. From there, the pacing increases ever so slightly, but never loses it’s emotional weight over it entire run time. The guitars & drums are played beautifully, and the vocals from Anders Jacobsson & Lisa Johansson are like Yin and Yang in all the right ways, with the former having a guttural quality that at least once or twice dips into something more calmer, and the later is just soothing from beginning to end, but equally tragic. Coupled with the symphonic elements that play throughout, and you have a song that can be just as sorrowful as some of the most weighty operas out there.
Sorrow Of Sophia (Lyric Video Version)
However, a track that surprised me quite a bit was the one right smack dab in the middle of the album. Burial Fields comes across like a genuine Gothic ballad, and on a record where many tracks are ballad-like that’s saying something. The track is also unusual in that there’s very little in the way of metallic elements: outside of some faint drumming, keyboarding, and sound effects, there’s nothing really metal about this song. Yet, it’s that lack of metal that gives Burial Fields such a sad yet beautiful atmosphere, almost as if it was a Gothic tale being told pure through the music itself. Certainly not a tune you should skip!
Burial Fields
Worst Track
Like I said earlier, Under A Godless Veil punches you in the gut when you least expect it, and pulls at your heartstrings so hard you’d that they might snap under the pressure. However, the more beautiful aspects is what keeps the music from going into the more grim territory like Obsidian did. Because of that balancing act, it makes listening to the entire record far easier than going through all of the previously mentioned record.....even though Obsidian is pretty awesome in it’s own right.
Other
If you’re curious about listening to this album, then click on the link below:
Under A Godless Veil
Overall Impression & Rating
Under A Godless Veil is just wonderful. Bleak as it could be, it also could be stunning at the exact same time. As dark as it can be, it has an odd light that could also soothe the heart (After the darker aspects kicked it of course). It’s easier to go through so much more when compared to Obsidian & maybe other Gothic Metal releases from 2020 I didn’t listen to, but it knows that it’s still Goth, and as such it’s not a cakewalk either. If you weren’t a fan of Paradise Lost’s dark litany of songs from 5 years ago, this album will be a more pleasant experience for you.
Under A Godless Veil gets an 8.5 to 9 out of 10.
And that was my review for Under A Godless Veil. Dark & beautiful, it manages to walk a tightrope, and never slips toward either extreme at any point. . So, now we’ve reached no. 2 on my albums from the start of this decade, and things are a bit more fun now. Before that however, we’ve got quite the zoo to explore, so see me tomorrow for an anime review that’s primal. Until then take care!
No comments:
Post a Comment