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Draconian > The Burning Halo > Reviews
Draconian - The Burning Halo

Perfect if you ignore the cover songs - 97%

PorcupineOfDoom, April 24th, 2016

I've been exploring a lot of doom/death lately and I suppose that it was only really a matter of time until I came across Draconian. The Burning Halo is without a doubt a masterpiece, there's really no disputing that. It has this ability to channel emotion in a way that I just didn't think was possible before listening to it. It's a skill that so many bands attempt to showcase, but only a very, very small minority pull it off to the level that Draconian do. The way everything blends together so finely to craft the music you'll find here demonstrates exactly how gothic music should be played.

Vocals are a major part of gothic metal in any form, and unfortunately I don't feel anything when the vocalist in half of your run-of-the-mill gothic metal bands sings. Anders and Lisa, however, are among the finest of duos I have ever heard. It would appear that getting emotion across while growling is a tricky skill to master as so few show anything beyond brutality when doing so. But there's something in Anders' voice that sounds different, and it actually connects with me, 'Serenades of Sorrow' in particular. There's a power in his voice, but also this mix of sadness and anger, like he's experienced all the pain that he sings about. It just adds this extra dynamic that's so often lost with other harsh vocalists. Equally, I have to say that Lisa is brilliant. As soon as she made her appearance on the first track 'She Dies' I was instantly convinced to stick around for the entire thing, long before the song started to climax. This release alone has convinced me that she's one of the greatest singers I'll ever hear, she's got such a beautiful and otherworldly voice that words cannot do her justice. She sounds so heavenly, particularly in the higher sections, and she contrasts so sharply with Anders' tortured growls but somehow her voice works in tandem at the same time, to great effect I might add. They compliment each other so well that I'm left simply astounded. Even the spoken sections that I would normally dislike are woven in perfectly.

You often find that a band that does the vocals perfectly offers very little in terms of the rest of the band, but again Draconian have no such issue. It's put together in an incredibly complex manner so precisely that I can do nothing to stop myself being blown away by its beauty. There are so many elements here, from the changes of pace from one section to the other, the crescendo to the diminuendo, the differing leads (be they from the guitar, the synths, the vocals or wherever the hell else), it all comes together to create The Burning Halo. It's a truly magnificent creation, full of weeping, sorrowful melodies that fit perfectly with the vocals and featuring a near-constant tinkering piano in the background that's incredibly minimalist and sounds vulnerable, yet provides the backbone for everything. The guitars don't tend to do much but yet they have such a huge impact on the music as a whole. Again it's the sorrow that they manage to make the listener feel that really makes it so exceptional, but the delicate coordination of their leads are so much more enjoyable than any technical wankery could ever be. Even the birds chirruping on 'She Dies' works far better than I could have imagined and adds another layer to the song. Just wow.

My one problem with this album is due to the two cover songs. All of the original material is perfect. All of the rerecorded material is flawless. The two covers however are not quite at the same high standard set by the rest of the album. They aren't awful, but when the rest of the album is so spellbinding it's disappointing that they felt they needed to put two cover songs in there. The songs they chose aren't typically gothic, and that's probably where the problem lies. They weren't intended to be done in the style that Draconian play in, and they just don't manage to make it sound as genuine as the rest of the record. And it's a shame, because I mean it when I say that the rest of this album is completely without fault. Anyone that likes death/doom or gothic metal needs to listen to this. You won't be disappointed.

A brief glance forward and back. - 83%

karma_sleeper, August 17th, 2008

“That which we are, we are…
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”

So spoke Lord Tennyson and so Draconian saw fit to remind us in the booklet to The Burning Halo. So what are Draconian? Draconian cites the reason for this release as a way to show the evolution of the sound, where it is now, and where it is going. The Burning Halo contains three new tracks, three re-mastered ones, and two covers revealing the early influences of the band. The old tracks are a nice look back to those familiar with the band’s early sound. More than that, with the advent of Turning Season Within, the new songs offer a glimpse into where the members would take the sound next.

The opener, ‘She Dies,’ is the perfect blend of all the elements of the Draconian sound. Gothic style keyboards that make you want to stroll through open graves, guitars and drums droning on in an eerie mix of doom, and vocal performances that remind us why Lisa and Anders are the ones purring and belching out lyrics respectively. The core melody of the song is repetitive but mercilessly captivating. I can’t think of any other song that makes me smile about loss and wanting to die. The other two new tracks return to more of a darker death/doom sound reminiscent of Arcane Rain Fell with the keyboards patching up the weak spots. One might notice Lisa making more of a pronounced appearance on all three as well as more instances of harmonizing with Anders. Indeed, this would also be the case on Turning Season Within. In short, these new songs are Draconian at their best.

After feeling perfectly comfortable in the misery crafted for you, some blasts from the past explode into life to knock you from your reverie. These old tracks reveal much of what has changed even after being rerecorded – namely what happens when keyboards and attempts to create emotional melodies drown a song. ‘Serenade of Sorrow’ is reminiscent of faster paced songs from Where Lovers Mourn and again strangely prophetic of the more gothic focus to grace Turning Season Within. Both ‘The Mornigstar’ and ‘The Gothic Embrace’ carry some unfortunately silly synth segments which are almost redeemed by excellent re-mastered guitar work and typically excellent performances from Lisa and Anders. Nonetheless, all the things that make a Draconian song great are there. Rerecording them helps strengthen the full length release disguise.

The two covers of Ekseption and Pentagram respectively diverge greatly from the overall tone of the album but offer insight into Draconian’s very early influences. After listening to the Ekseption cover, it’s now painfully clear where Draconian found inspiration for some of the cringe inducing symphonic moments of their earlier more awkward efforts.

The Burning Halo presents Draconian as they are. Unlike the Tennyson quote, nothing here has been made weak by time. Draconian remain as strong as ever as evidence by the new songs, and the older tracks presented here represent some of the best of their older material even if it is overbearing at times. This release is good for new fans interested in learning a little about the stylistic history of the band.

The Burning Halo - burning my heart.... - 91%

RussianMetalHead, January 2nd, 2008

Draconian plays interesting doom gothic metal. Those guys do not write brutal-head banging metal. This is atmospheric, epic, and heavy music. Well, songs are rather long - about 8 minutes each with tight riffing, epic keyboards, beauty (female vocals), and the beast (death metal vocals). Songs are not entirely slow, and monotone; they have nice tempo changes, always on the spot. For example, “Serenade of Sorrow” is the shorter up-tempo song with groove, and catchy keyboards. Keyboards play important role, the guitar is well written too. “The Morning Star” has some of the pure head banging riffs. Other songs have those riffs too. Sometimes the melodies repeat a bit too much, but there are enough variations to be not monotonous. Compositions mostly contain melodies with minor scales, creating dark atmosphere. There are no cheesy-happy melodies at all. However, I did not like Pentagram cover. I thought it was pointless, and did not fit the Draconian music at all. Other listeners may think otherwise…
In my opinion, fellow metal heads, listener has to hear album more then 3 times to feel its atmosphere. First time you may just grasp the basic ideas. Second, and third listen spin will give you better feeling of Draconian compositions. Read the lyrics too, they are pretty splendid. Excellent dark poetry! I will not quote them in my review, but please read them carefully! Listen it in the fucking darkness (at least sometimes), to feel the atmosphere.

Quite the superior compilation - 90%

SirMichaelJ, March 1st, 2007

Draconian is a Doom/Gothic band out of Sweden. I really don't see much Doom influence other than the tempo, I like to call it Dark, but that is besides the point, it's just genre dropping. But Dark is such a better way to describe this work of elegant beauty. This cd is for the more "sophisticated" metal listener. If you're into "KISS ASS BRUTAL METAL!" this album is NOT for you. This album is for the metal listener who can take in atmosphere, vision, depth, and beauty that metal has to offer. Metal is so expansive, and when a group of people can incorporate such elements of metal and have music sound this expressive, sorrowful, and depressing it must be mentioned.

This is of coarse a compilation of older works, two new songs, and two covers. The album starts off much like Arcane Rainfall their second album. A very slow, depressing melody with a slight chant in the backround. Once the death style vocals hits it just gets into a state of melancholy and sorrow. Than the female vocals hit and it just feels like you have nothing left in life. Now I'm no artist, but when you can express this through sound, you have got to be on the hierarchy of artist in your respective genre. This sound is so pure, so true it can put a smile on your face through all the gloom knowing this can be expressed. Midway through the song you hear a light acoustic guitar, birds chirping, a very moving spoken passage and to the most depressing melody on the whole album. From violins, to birds chirping, this song uses a lot of instrumentation to really let you gt a sense of what Draconian wants you to feel. And they don't fail.

Serenade of Sorrow is more like their first album, Where Lovers Mourn. It it more Gothic based, but still has a very doomy/dark touch to it. This song is more upbeat than other songs on the album and has the most emotional passage in the whole song, and in my opinion the entire genre. At 2:31 you feel the guitars making more pf a presence, and once the 2:54 mark hits its such a beautiful 10 seconds with the females vocals, growls, and guitars. I've never heard such mastery of being able to convey feelings through instruments used mainly today to "Rock the fuck out." It's uplifting knowing that there are people out there who can compose modern day music with such a passion.

The only reason this was not scored was higher was because there are re-release tracks and a cover song that is so terrible I won't even speak of it. When Draconian does release a new album expect it to sound like a mixture of the previous two full releases. They will not dissapoint.

So ARF was INDEED a one-time fault! - 95%

SepherZ, January 29th, 2007

I recall, some 3 years ago or so, a friend of mine handed me an album called "Where Lovers Mourn" by a then-unknown band called Draconian. He described it as "Better than Swallow the Sun and My Dying Bride" - and nearly instantly got my curiousity about the find. I then heard Draconian's debut album for the first time - and was astonished. Where Lovers Mourn had perfect balance between everything I ever liked about Doom metal - Clean singing carefully combined with vicious, dark growls. Long, Monotonous riffs, accompanied by serene piano melodies one second, and nearly death-metal riffs combined with vicious drumming the other, and much more. I was very happy with the new artists I've discovered, and thus - also very disappointed with their 2nd album, released back in 2005, called Arcane Rain Fell, or in short - ARF.

Something about ARF just didn't fit as well as Where Lovers Mourn did. Maybe it was the fact the band decided to take a much more gothic approach to music, and twist the balance between clean singing and growling to the clean singing's favour. ARF didn't get too many spins on my stereo, as it simply bored me. Even though the line between gothic and doom metal is thin, I am not too much of a goth-fan, as much as I like dark, moody doom metal.

With the whole ARF disappointment, I was kind of sceptic about Draconian's latest release - The Burning Halo. Unlike when ARF was released, that I stormed the closest CD-store and was one of the first to purchase the CD in my country, with The Burning Halo I have waited until recently to even acquire the CD, and I can say that was a mistake, because those four months it took me to decide to give Draconian a 2nd chance were four months I could use to listen to this masterpiece!
The Burning Halo is, to me, Draconian's declaration of uniqueness. This album shouts, unlike ARF, "There's standard, old-school gothic metal, and there's us!" . With The Burning Halo, Draconian managed to reach an even better balance between their softer and darker sides. Songs like "The Morningstar" best describe their Doom/death sides, while songs like "She Dies" show a softer side, often shown in ARF, only in the perfect dosage and timing.
Another nice thing about The Burning Halo is the 2 covers sealing this album, "On Sunday They Will Kill the World", originally by a progressive rock band called Ekseption, and "Forever my Queen" , of the heavy metal legend Pentagram. Draconian manage to make both songs sound, in my opinion, much better than the origin, with "On Sunday They Will Kill the World" becoming excellent fusion-doom metal (first song of that genre to have ever been created, I guess :), and "Forever my Queen" becoming some sort of odd industrial-death metal that sounds bloody great!
Draconian prooves yet again that they're one hell of a band, and unlike in their former albums, even experiment a little with things that don't always go hand in hand with doom or gothic metal.

Excellent work + excellent band = excellent album.

A disguised EP... Nevermind. - 81%

Sean16, November 18th, 2006

Presenting Draconian would probably sound a tad futile, especially after they’ve released their masterpiece Arcane Rain Fell not so long ago. If during the last few years they’ve become a somewhat popular band amongst gothic/doom metal fans, let’s admit they’ve fully deserved it up to now. And if they’re currently not totally escaping the temptation of making some easy money with this little compilation, I nonetheless don’t think many of us will complain. Because The Burning Halo is, all things well considered, rather good. So first let’s see how the band itself justifies it: “The motivation for this special release is to present the Draconian sound, past and present, as a whole with a honest face”.

And of course, it’s also a way of making another full-length release while writing only three new songs (tracks 1-3 here) – that’s why I called it a disguised EP. But after all, the three following tracks from the 1999 The Closed Eyes of Paradise demo are enjoyable as well, even if the so-called “honesty” of the band could be questioned – as the guys naturally selected the songs they must have considered as the best there. True fairness would have implied a complete re-recording of the aforementioned demo, what would have indeed enabled us to get the excellent Cauda Draconis as a supplement.

To be honest (you’ve understood by now, it’s all about honesty here...) The Closed Eyes of Paradise was far from being the best release the band ever did. It reeked far too much of fake gothicism with its useless orchestrations, clichéd melodies and mediocre female vocals (Lisa Johansson hadn’t joined the band at that time). It may have been the necessary step leading to landmarks like Where Lovers Mourn and Arcane Rain Fell, but nonetheless a forgettable step. Now, even if the three songs presented here have been entirely re-recorded by the nowadays Draconian, their inherent songwriting weaknesses are still leaking out here and there. A perfect example may be Serenade of Sorrow with its catchy but rather ridiculous orchestral leitmotiv, its iffy structural breaks or opera-type female vocals. Coming to The Morningstar, a blastbeats/keyboards part which reminds more of CoF than anything else, and in The Gothic Embrace, well, the title itself are likely to make you smile.

Those tracks aren’t bad. They just show a dubious taste for keyboards and the overall grandiloquence of an immature band, that’s all. But you can’t prevent yourself from liking them, exactly like you can’t prevent yourself from loving this 5-years-old who however keeps on bothering you with his endless silly babble. No, the only questionable tracks are actually the two covers, the mindless and ridicule classical-influenced On Sunday they Will Kill the World or the even more grotesque hard-rock tune Forever my Queen.

But now let’s come back to the three opening songs and listen to the true, the doom-ish Draconian again – the one and only, right? For those familiar with Arcane Rain Fell there would be no surprise, as the material here is exactly in the same vein. What means, slow and hopeless, with a little predominance of growled vocals, even if Lisa Johansson and her eerie, flighty voice is more present than on the previous release, especially on the third track. Of course the band got rid of the orchestrations and easy tunes from their early days long ago, which have been replaced by the half-suffocating guitar leitmotivs which are now inseparable from their sound, plus the discrete atmospheric keyboard in the background. And eventually, could it be a more melancholic instrument than the grand piano when used well?

And don’t tell me Draconian may have fallen into self-parody with the titles of the first and third tracks, and its artwork once again dealing with old, venerable cemeteries. When you listen to Draconian, you WANT cemeteries. You want songs about Love and Death. You want a Tennyson citation, ivy-crowned stone angels and graveyard poetry. And you want this opening track of pure genius, built on hardly more than three bars, a sort of Dies Irae the whole song is then revolving around. A track showing a short, explicit title acting like a condensate of the whole Draconian art, ladies and gentlemen – SHE DIES.

Considering the three new tracks undoubtedly can stand the comparison with the ones on Arcane Rain Fell, they make the listener all the more longing for the next genuine album. For the rest, The Burning Halo amounts to a very agreeable release when you except the two covers which are by far the shortest tracks anyway. Superior gothic metal does exist, good sir.

Highlights: She Dies, Through Infectious Waters (A Sickness Elegy), The Dying