2015 has been a particularly strong year for fans of the gothic doom sound, not least for the fact that two of the giants of the genre have released their strongest albums in some time. In doing so both Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride revisited their earlier sounds and inspirations, and with great success. Draconian have done a similar thing with their latest album, Sovran, although whether they have achieved it with the same aplomb as their peers is open to debate. As the last few Draconian albums became more musically versatile, at times almost verging on mainstream, Sovran relies more on the doom than on the gothic element of their sound, harking back to the days of Where Lovers Mourn.
A lot has occurred in the four years since 2011’s A Rose For The Apocalypse, most notably the departure of vocalist Lisa Johansson, and with such shoes to fill it was no surprise that finding a suitable replacement was a long process. The replacement comes in the form of Heike Langhans, of LOR3L3I, who are well worth looking up if you are a fan of more conventional gothic rock and dark electronica. Langhans has a very clear and accomplished voice, initially sounding almost indistinguishable from Johansson on opening track ‘Heavy Lies The Crown’. The track is the standard Draconian sound with a classic doom riff backed up by soaring melancholic melodies provided by Johan Ericson. The trade-off between the beauty and beast vocals is as strong as ever, with Anders Jacobsson delivering every line with his signature roar.
There is a feeling of re-treading old ground as we are beset by The Wretched Tide, but that is quickly forgotten as Pale Tortured Blue is perhaps the best song they have written since Arcane Rain Fell. A slow and miserable yet incredibly uplifting track, it’s also the first sign we have of Langhans putting her own vocal stamp on proceedings. From here on things get a bit patchy, from the slightly disjointed nature of Stellar Tombs to the plodding Marriage Of Attaris, it’s a much harder album to get into than previous Draconian releases. One of the main issues is that the album rarely seems to change pace and inevitably some of the songs tend to blend together when you consider them afterwards. This isn’t helped by Jacobsson sticking very close to his tried and tested formula for vocal delivery, the predictable structure becoming a little wearing after a while.
For its faults, Sovran is still a good album, if initially a touch underwhelming. I have found that many of the songs are slow burners, and this is particularly true of Dusk Mariner which is well worth the effort to get to know. Similarly I had a few issues with Heike’s voice initially, finding it to be technically excellent yet lacking in personality. I’ve since warmed to her far more, and her subtle approach suits the songs very well. Whilst I think that Sovran may be a bit of a step backwards for Draconian in terms of the songwriting, I’m also inclined to give it the benefit of the doubt as I can feel the songs growing on me over time. I think that if they were trying to find the right balance between their gothic and doom elements, they should take a look at where they landed and see that they overshot the mark just a little.
(8/10 Lee Kimber)
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