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file under doom metal
Is what we usually understand by “doom metal” a bit too heavy and ponderous on your stomach? Then try Draconian, the Swedish band who manages to combine monumental, echoing riffs and pure atrabiliousness with fetching melodies and a few gothic elements. That creative blend made an unforgettable album of ‘Arcane Rain Fell’ that ended up at number one of my list of the year (2005). For the next album they have invented a new term: bonus album. This means it cannot be seen as a true successor, but something in between two albums. I read somewhere “compilation/best of”. No, dear folks, that’s wrong. ‘The Burning Halo’ consists of three new tracks, three new versions of songs from the past (coming from a demo of 1999) and two covers. When talking about the music we can be brief (or better, just read the review).Magnificent music that leads you to a confrontation with your inner existence. It is true, I was looking forward to talk with vocalist/poet Anders Jacobsson. It turned out to be an open conversation of more than an hour.
Text: Vera
Like I had hoped the poetic vocalist turned out to be a friendly and eloquent man, who primary asked me if he called me the right time without delay. Oh yes, he was as punctual as could be and we could start the game of question and answer.
 The new album ‘The Burning Halo’ is kind of a bonus album and not the real successor of ‘Arcane Rain Fell’. What was the reason for that?
The main reason was that our fans demanded it from us more or less from the beginning. It was really meant to be of an EP with only re-recorded material. We have been around since 1994 and even though we could not got a record deal until 2002, we had so many songs that we never released officially because of bad production. We did not want to release it that way, because it does not flatter us, you know. It would have given a wrong impression to the world and our fans. But when www.MP3.com got popular in the beginning of the new millennium, we decided to release most of the songs on the internet and some of the songs really got accepted. We decided to re-record some of the songs on that particular demo (‘The Closed Eyes Of Paradise’ – Vera). So the main reason we did it was because of our fans. There were a few people in the band that really did not have the patience to go through all the old songs, though I personally would have liked it. So we made a compromise and recorded three old songs and three new songs. Because of problems during the recordings, one of the cover songs was dropped too.
Yes, I read that there were numerous problems during the recording process. What was the matter?
It is very hard to explain. We recorded the album ourselves this time and the recording itself was not too complicated, but some of the members got other stuff to do. We had some problems in the line-up as well. There was a lot of bad luck with the technical gear, and we had to make some of the songs all over from the again, and a couple of more things. And we had our record label that was pushing us. So, we had to mix the album in a near-by studio. It did not turn out the way we wanted it.
I think it sounds great…
Yeah, we are very glad that many people like it. The songs are really good, but we had different plans for the sound… we wanted it heavier. Because when you begin with an album, you have an idea how you want it to come out. We did the best we could during the process.
If you did not present it as a bonus album, many people would think it is the regular successor…
Yeah, though some of the songs are different and faster. Like the last song ‘Forever My Queen’ is almost a like party song (laughs).
One should expect that the cover of Pentagram is more in the vein of your music, doom metal, but it is totally different, while the Ekseption song, which is normally a different style, belongs more in your repertoire…
That’s because we made the Ekseption song more into a doom song. But with the Pentagram track, we took it for what it was. We had no intention to make it darker or slower, we just recorded it as it was with some minor add-ons.
How did you get to know the Ekseption song, an unknown track from a Dutch band?
A couple of years I did not know the band either, but Johan introduced me to them and I had never heard of them before, even though I listen a lot to old progressive hard rock music of the seventies. Johan has parents who listened to Ekseption when he grew up, and that are how we got to know them. And he remembered the song ‘On Sunday They Will Kill The World’ and he played it for me. He said that this could be a great doom song if we just slow down tempo and put some monumental keyboards. The song is very dark in its original as well. It’s a passionate and expressive song. When we talk in Draconian about a different approach, I use say that I hope we will never loose the sound which are special for Draconian, but maybe we’ll become a little more progressive. By progressive I mean more variations. It definitely does not mean that we are going to sound very different.
What was the third cover you wanted to do?
A completely different one. It was the old Paradise Lost classic ‘Gothic’. Our label had already paid for the rights of the song, so maybe we have to include it on our next album as a bonus song. But I cannot say it for sure, though I think that was the plan a while ago anyway. It is a great song, because it is the first song in that genre that uses both female and growling vocals and epic keyboards together. The song really created a whole new type of music, and its a very significant song for this genre because it more or less triggered it all. You have to respect that and that is why we decided to cover it. We’ve played it live a few times as well.
I think you are coming to Belgium in November…
I have not got the venues yet, but it is a whole tour in Europe around November/December.
At last! That is good news, because you have not toured that much because you are an extended band (seven musicians)…
Indeed, we talked about that last time. It is not because we are a shitty band that we haven’t had the opportunity to tour as much as we want. We had some bad luck with booking agencies and promoters. The sponsors did not find it reluctant to pay for music in this climate of internet downloading and stuff like that. And then we are seven members plus our manager, so we are eight on tour and that will get expensive.
It is a pity and proves again that music and money are two different things…
I think it is very important to remind people that music and money are two different things, dependable on one another. Music is all about feelings and emotions and creating worlds within you. But money is just the bitter reality behind everything. But I think if you have the willpower and energy to make things happen, it will happen. You got to have patience, you got to try and perhaps it will not work out the first times, but if you keep on trying then it is really worth it. I think playing live is one of the most important things to promote a band. It is such a great experience. The more you play live, the better you get, you know.
The former album was produced by Pelle Saether and this one by your guitarist Johan Ericson and keyboard player Andreas Karlsson. Why this change?
It’s primarily produced by our keyboard player Andreas Karlsson, because he had the most time for it. Johan also helped producing it. We recorded it in our own rehearsal room. It is the same way with Johan’s solo project ‘Doom Vs’ (pronounced “doom us”) It is the same way with him, but he mixed his album himself and it is actually better than the sound of this new Draconian album. Afterwards, I think he should have mixed the album, but anyway… too late now.
One of my favorite songs is ‘The Morningstar’…
Do you think so? Did you ever hear the original version?
No, it is very different from this one?
No, not that much, we stayed very close to the original, but I think ‘The Morningstar’ is one of the songs that turned out worst on the album. It is not a bad song at all, but we had other expectations. It is a real powerful song so the sound needed power as well, but it is all about the mixing. We wanted it much heavier and much more dynamic. But I am glad you like it (laughs). There was a very big demand for that song.
My favorite on this album, I think is ‘The Dying’. It has so many ingredients of what Draconian is about. It has some epic parts, some slow doom parts, some brutal parts and also these fragile, innocent, romantic, gothic parts with Lisa as well. So it has everything what we are about. It was also the first song we created after ‘Arcane Rain Fell’. We were fresh in our minds; we had many new thoughts and ideas.
About the underdog position of doom metal…
People (both fans journalists) who give us good critics, that is why we are still here. You have to struggle for every move you make. I think our songs are easier to get into than usual doom, especially funeral doom with the same riff for ten minutes long and so. I think it is quite good to be more approachable but still having that doom sound, that slow pulse. It is very important that people have patience when they listen to it. I know that a lot of people who have no patience at all with doom metal, they want things to happen, you know, they do not really understand that it’s all about the feeling you got from it. I can’t stand this stressed attitude… they should just take a pill and… (laughs). You know what I mean; everything just has to be so fucking hectic. It is the same thing when people listen to black metal or death metal, but the other way around. They wonder why the musician are in such a hurry, even though most these songs are even longer than the ones you hear on the radio, but of course it is all about music. You have to take the music for what it is, but it’s very important to put emotions in music.
Something I want to mention is that your lyrics are not just about feeling miserable, but there is a deeper feeling reflected in them, originating in your interest in books and films, isn’t it?
Yes, I think you are right. I just write about the things I generally feel. Always about something that is important to me, even though it is often very tragic and hopeless. Personally, I think, when I listen to similar music it makes me happy and gives me feelings of fulfillment and sends shivers down my spine, because I think there is so much soul and intensity in the music. Even If you sing about killing yourself, it does not really matter, because it is about feeling something and not being alone with what you feel and that is the great comfort that can be offered with this music. I have written lyrics similar to that, but that does not mean that I want to kill myself all the time, you know. Many people wrote to me and seemed to use these songs as an excuse to end their lives (like “The Cry of Silence” and “Death, come near me”). Many people are writing me to talk about the lyrics. I remember a couple of times there has been people who have written and said that one of our songs prevented them from killing themselves and that is the best thing to me. Because it’s not about killing yourself, it’s about feeling comfort you’re not alone. These two songs that I mentioned are really reflections of what I felt at the time I wrote them and the period of time I was in. You know, I stand behind those lyrics for one hundred percent, because it reflects the way I feel and think about this world we live in and life in general, but, in contrary to what many people think of me, I am not a suicidal person at all. I have been in the past, believe me, and that is why I am different now. When you have been close to death you think it’s for a reason, that there is a meaning… and even though it is hard, you should to move on because I think in the end it will pay off. You have to go through suffering to gain insight, because life is a path full of thorns and when you walk that path it is unavoidable to suffer… if you are not a blind, ignorant individual. So the more you think and feel, the more you have to suffer because this world is really very hard for unique individuals that are not a part of this everyday materialistic way of thinking. The society we live in oppresses the emotion and sanction on pure reason. I am very proud of this notion that I use my heart more than reason, even though it is very hard sometimes because of this world we live in, but when I read hundreds of letters from people who feel the same, I am very happy to belong to that minority. The majority have seldom been right anyways. Whatever the lyrics are about… If I write about Lucifer or God or if I write about suicide, death, isolation or loss, it is all about the same thing, you know. Behind every story there is the same kind of emotion. For example the song ‘Death Come Near Me’. When I wrote it I wanted it to be like a love poem to death, and like it was written by some young girl or something. Not in a juvenile or childish kind of way, but from a clearer watching point of view. Because sometimes young persons have much more clarity and are much more unclouded than older people, and I think it was good to write it like that, because it affected people very much. This song has meant a lot to people and we are very happy with that.
Let’s have a look at the artwork. Was it done by Travis Smith again?
Yes, but it was under quite strict direction from Johan and myself. We wanted it to look a certain way. I think this is the best album cover and layout so far. I don’t know if we will use Travis for our next album though… we’ve been talking about maybe trying out someone else next time. There are so many great artists out there, but who are more unknown.
Are you already thinking about the, let’s call it “the real successor of Arcane Rain Fell”?
(grins) Well, yeah, both yes and no, we have some ideas, nothing is really finished. We’ve just started coming up with some ideas… and we have a line-up change at the moment so we are trying to rehearse as much as we can. After that we can sit down and make music for the new album. We have recently booked a studio for next year.
Will it be on Napalm Records again?
Yes, that will be our last album for them.
Line-up situation, you said? Isn’t there a kind of peace in the band now?
Draconian has never been the kind of band that argues. But we know when people are going in a different direction, away from the band, we notice it and we have to do something about it. Of course there have been some words and discussions. At last we have found a great talented and very dedicated bass player, his name is Fredrik Johansson. But now actually, this weekend we have auditions for a new keyboard player.
Oh, the man who recorded the stuff is not with you anymore (Andreas Karlsson)?
Well, he is not with us anymore like he used to. Maybe you have not have seen it, but we had a session player for a while. She played at Summer Breeze for example.
Yes, there were two girls in the band, indeed…
Well, that was because of Andreas’ condition. He did not have the strength to go out and play gigs. I cannot really talk about it, but he could not go with us and we had to look for a session musician. We knew her a little and she was a good for the band, but now, since Andreas has found himself an education in another town far away, we had to discuss replacing him. He will still be a kind of freelancing though. It’s planned he will help out making some music for the next album. But he will not be our official keyboardist anymore. Now it is just me and Johan who are the original members. Andreas has been with us since 1997, so I think it is quite sad, but we have to move on. So, this weekend hopefully… I really hope it will work out.
For the next album they will book a studio again “We are not going to record it ourselves again. We will book a real studio. We have to work against a serious tight time schedule, so I think it is the best way to get things done.”
I remember some spoken words on the ‘Arcane Rain Fell’ album were done by Ryan from Necare and you recorded some more with him without using them. Did you use some on this record or will you on the next record?
You are right. He made more spoken parts and I wanted to use more of them on the album, but according to the others there was not enough time. I was not present when the album was mixed. But these samples were all on the Luciferian theme, related to the album. I don’t know if we can use them on the next record. It really depends on the lyrics. Next album will not have a special theme though; it will be strictly about emotions and more personal.
Are you open to concept albums? I mean, would you like to make a concept album or do you prefer to look at it song-wise?
To make a concept album, you really have to get the lyrics and music more together. You have to create music more in harmony with the lyrics, because it is very important that the music catches the lyrical contents. We don’t really use to do that anymore. Johan plays a song to me or if he has an idea for a song he gives it to me. When I listen to it I usually get a feeling what the song should be about. I think it will work the other way around if we make a concept album, because I have a concept in mind for our fifth album, if there will be a fifth album or a sixth one someday (grins). It will really depend on which direction we are going then. The songs have to fit the concept but they have to work on their own too, so it will be a hell of a job. They should not be too dependable on each other in order to play some of them live.
Can you unfurl something from the concept already or is it too early?
I don’t know, not really at this point in time, because I haven’t discussed it with all the members of the band yet. But I have spoken to our manager Erik, he writes some of the lyrics for us,…
Ah, he still does that?
Yes, I think he will help me with that concept album, because he is brilliant. And I have spoken to Andreas and to Johan. But I will say one thing: the album cannot be too heavy because it is a tragic love story; a mythological love story from a Greek mythology. And even on that album I will use some poetry from the old Romantics as well. It is very cool, you know, because these poets are dead for about two hundred years and their works are free to use because none has the rights for them.
Can you tell anything about the choirs on the album?
It was Andreas who arranged these choirs though programming and samples.
Cities like Paris and Prague intrigue you. Can you tell a bit more about that?
I guess it’s because I have a very naïve and kind of mad fascination with absinthe (laughs) I cannot say it in any other way, because there is a certain ambiance over these cities... especially Paris and the Montmartre quarters. I wish I had a time machine available. When you read about it, you can feel the atmosphere of Moulin Rouge and Bohemian artists and poets. I don’t know… there is something about that world that attracts me a lot, because I have always written poetry myself. I get these feelings because there’s a lot of soul-searching in my life. Some may say it is bullshit, but drinking absinthe is inspiring and it really helps to bring out the best in me when it comes to art and poetry. You can really sense the muse, the so-called green fairy.
I don’t drink this stuff every week, only at some occasions. I like it so much ‘cause it has this whole mystic and gothic ambiance… very attractive. Its history is very intriguing as well.
Sometimes people have asked me what I would do with my life if I only had one year left to life, and I always the same thing, I’d say: “Rather than spend my time with my family at home, I would go back to the Montmartre quarters in Paris and drink myself to death.” The English writer Marie Corelli wrote: “With this divine nectar of Olympus I can defy misfortune and laugh at poverty as though they were the merest bagatels.
Absinthe really makes you forget about the troubles in life. I would like it to spend my last year in life thinking about death and dreading the day he will come… do why not live in a haze of beauty, artistry and nocturnal decadence?
With these words of a Bohemian poet we have to listen to ‘The Burning Halo’ one more time…
http://www.draconian.se
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